Ungodly Forms

As strange as that might sound one of the best modern SweDeath bands is hailing from the United States. Formed in 2016 the guys did not waste any time and grabbed a deal with Testimony Records to release this beast of an album that ranks among my absolute favorite records of the past years. They followed up with an EP called “The Crypts Below” in 2018 which included 4 new songs and a cover song. While this one is a nice little appetizer generally keeping the high standard of “Ungodly Forms” I think Sentient Horror is even more impressive over the length of a full album.

There is only so much variation a band can implement in their sound within the boundaries of Old School Death Metal. Most things have been said and each riff has been played more than once. After having hit the play button every fan of this kind of music will feel right at home. Sentient Horror make good use of the famous HM2 pedal and like band leader and guitar player/singer Matt Moliti said in an interview one could play AC/DC songs and because of using this tool most people would think of Entombed and Dismember and not of a famous Hard Rock band in the first place.

So the basis of “Ungodly Forms” are the traditional down-tuned and buzz-sawing killer riffs varying from straight-forward and pushing to stoic and sometimes even having inherent a slightly melancholic flair. There is a subtle melodic element below the surface giving the music an additional layer and setting Sentient Horror a bit apart from their peers. The tempo is quite high for the most part with only a few well-placed slower sections leading to a more serious and darker tone. Generally speaking the instrumentation is just a bit more aggressive and technical compared to most modern SweDeath bands what might be owed to the band’s US origins.

While the deviations from the formula described above are not that material and Sentient Horror could be called “just another OSDM band” it is the way the gentlemen are using all the well-known elements. They are putting them back together creating something not necessarily innovative but still fresh and highly entertaining. The standard riffs are combined with just enough variation and melodic lead sections are implemented in the right places. Listening to new bands I often have the feeling the technical abilities are there but they artist are not always sure how to write an interesting song which often leads to the music being just different sections pieced together. Sentient Horror present highly coherent songwriting making each track and the album as a whole smoothly flow together.

The drumming has the perfect mix of working as backbone and setting the general tempo but also add some accents where needed. While the instrumentation is top notch there is no time wasted for showing technical skills. At the bottom OSDM is a pretty simple style of music that should be fun to listen to and Sentient Horror know that pretty well. The songs stay within the tried and true verse-chorus structure offering some stunning and catchy refrains to growl along.

I also need to mention the vocals by Matt which are just about perfect. His tone is somewhere between Martin van Drunen and Ola Lindgren and his delivery is very clear (for DM standards of course) so that the lyrics can be easily understood .The same can be said about the production job. The sound is powerful and punchy and the mix is clear making all instruments audible. While the modern technic standards have been used of course there is still enough putridity and rawness to please any fan of the genre.

Very good stuff.