He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten

The element of horror is, arguably, the very foundation of heavy metal music. Standing among the forefathers of the genre, Black Sabbath are well known to be the biggest influence of many artists that came after them, in all the different subgenres of metal that were born throughout the years. A member of the band has been quoted for saying "Don't you think it's weird that people pay money to go and watch horror films? Let's start doing scary music", and from that point, the rest is history we are all familiarized with. As a fan of metal music, and of horror fiction, it thrills me deeply when those two things are combined, especially because I believe that horror, as a vector for artistic manifestation, serves a great purpose in expressing many different feelings that stir within the human being.

In that regard, Brazilian death-doom masters Fossilization do not disappoint, and their debut EP, "He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten", bears proof of that. This wickedly glorious piece of music paints on the mind of its listeners a picture of absolute, apocalyptic devastation, with every individual element of its composition brilliantly fulfilling their role in achieving said image. Starting with the instruments, the strings offer an array of dissonant, ominous chords that create a sinister atmosphere from the very beginning of the record, displaying the composer's prowess in using their musical ability to convey a feeling of evil, dreary doom, and sustaining that feeling all the way through the record. The drums tracks are another flawlessly crafted component of this masterpiece, providing the perfect amount of aggressiveness to its sound, by bombarding the listener's ears with well timed, rapid-fire blast beats in the moments of sheer energy, only to back down in the right times, dragging and accentuating the music through its slower passages, as it builds up another attack of hateful sonic violence. This, I believe is the mark of a great drum player, knowing how to carry perfectly the tempo of the song in different levels of intensity.

In the lyrical and vocal departments, it is no different. The voice of the singer is evil, terrifying, and aptly invokes the dense and violent emotions he wants to convey, with a gutural timbre so deep it almost blends in with the instruments in a horrid wall of sound, while still managing to be fairly comprehensible. And it is with that impeccable vocal performance that our singer delivers lyrics that narrate the most gruesome scenes of horror and death, in verses that could have been written by the likes of Lovecraft and other masters of gothic horror; words that talk of destroying the world, the body, the creatures of god, and his very essence, and reshaping it all in a horrifying mass of blood and ashes, evoking feelings of hate, despair, disgust, and manic contentment.

This musical composition goes beyond the expectations and summons an atmosphere of terror that is, at the same time, agonizing and pleasing the listener, by reaching the ideal balance between those two sensations. It is a pure display of musical technique mastery being employed not just for the sake of showcasing talent, but rather to convey a message through sound and word, achieving unparalleled success in delivering that message to its listener by carrying their mind to scenarios of oblivion.

Favorite track: Caronte. Final score: 10/10.

Recently Brazil’s death doom metallers Fossilization unleashed their debut EP. Out now via Transylvanian Tapes and Everlasting Spew Records.

Immense, thick and cavernous guitars immediately spawn into fruition with atmospherics dripping so sullenly forth. Pounding kicks and chiming cymbals break open the dense murk before the full instrumental brutality cascades with an ambience akin to Finnish death metallers with utmost ferocity. A clear production full of low end warmth allows the fetid and yet resplendently eerie music to be heard with all the nuance and subtleties within. Dissonant melodies weave between the monolithic drums and titan riffing with a serpentine maliciousness that is superb to behold, grasping the brain with otherworldly tendrils as the magnificent musicianship unfurls its charnel horrors. The comparisons listed in the press kit include Dead Congregation, Krypts and Engulfed among more adored acts, not only is this what drew my attention but the duo certainly deliver this high quality, creepy and yet barbaric death metal brilliantly. Visceral blasting hooks and meaty riffs amidst unearthly doomy breaks that open into a catatonic swaying groove flow seamlessly together with transcendent efficiency. Thus far, Fossilization’s debut into the underground has not remotely disappointed.

Pulverising drums and monstrous riffs spew forth with their eldritch atmospherics as the hideously snarled vocals only accentuate the deathly and unhallowed sound. Spitting a venomous touch of dissonance truly ramps things up as the scornful death metal’s flare of doomy pacing is not allowed to decrease the sheer brutish intensity nor the scathing aggression they set out to create. Conjuring demonic apparitions through superb sonic onslaughts, only the most tastefully putrid elements are utilised in this 25 minute of desolate, savage and utterly oppressive death metal that will leave all festering in ecstasy at the tomb-crawling might of Fossilization, a name that will be heard a great deal in the underground, of this I can be sure. An excellent example of gloomy yet ferocious death metal which is brutal yet expansive, somehow both sparse yet packed with tight and punishing musicianship. Truly something vicious to bear witness to.

A titanic debut EP that is deserving of high praise from anybody who takes their death metal seriously. In the murky depths there is clarity, showcased here by 5 pungent pieces of masterfully crafted, ritualistic monstrosities. My stance of death metal being as strong as ever is only consolidated by releases such as this one. Do not miss out on this spectral opus of inhospitable morbidity.

Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com

Much like with thrash metal, death metal from South America always seems to have a higher level of scorching energy from it, reflective of the climate. Fossilization is one of those words that just emulates decay and abrasion, especially when you picture it happening to a human. The band’s music certainly holds a candle to that! Hot off the press is their debut EP He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten, a force I absolutely reckon with.

Loading itself with five grueling tracks to nearly touch a full-length outing, Fossilization takes the death metal genre to crushing extremes. Guitar passages specialize in tremolos and explosive overlays of fuming leads that cast horrifying images of ash, decay, and shattering bone fractals. Though you’d expect cavernous vocals to go under this, they’re a bit more prominent than I expected. Naturally, things give way to hints of doom and black metal alike, depending where you fall on the disc.​

Furthermore, the drumming on He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten brings a stellar amount of taste as well. Though a lot of it is blasting kicks to match the tremelos or undermine the dronier riffs, there are also a solid amount of fills to be had. The longest track, “Caronte,” is one of the most intense songs for this sole reason, and the way it crafts itself around slow pacing under fast passages is incredible. Closer “Deplorable Epoch” takes a completely different vocal style and torches things to an even blacker degree. The title track also does some cool shit in the calmer section leading towards the end for a slight calm before the storm.

This style does run a bit stale after about twenty minutes, but there isn’t much past that anyway. What’s also nice is that it gives them a solid foundation to work with for a coming full-length, a strategy that many death metal outfits use. If you’re into Nekus, Proscription, Witchbones, or really any of the Vardlokker fronted projects, this is the EP for you.

Originally written for Sleeping Village