Depravity – Evil Upheaval

Band: Depravity
Title: Evil Upheaval
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Release Date: April 30th, 2018
Country: Australia

The absolute pleasure of listening to manic sounds coming from the depths of the infinite pits, full of boiling blood, of the most absolute devotion to the best Death Metal ever conceived. Few things compare to listening to a young band who knows what they are doing. These same feelings emerge when “Evil Upheaval” sounds, the first full length of the Australian band Depravity (not to be confused with the classic and immortal ones of Finland).

The insanity, passion and expertise that these nine tracks give off are unique in their kind. The first thing we notice, before the first assault, is the great similarity with the exiled Dionysian swarm of the great George Michel Emmanuel III (better known as Trey Azagthoth). The cadence and fury of the riffs, the solos coming out of forbidden mental corridors, a certain groove emerging, safeguarded between so much exelerity. We are in the presence of a band that does not hide its great passion for one of my favorite bands of all time: Morbid Angel. Even the crazed drumming and the speed of light of Pete “Commando” Sandoval shines in the supreme work of Louis Rando (Unfairly a bit behind in the mix)

Many times I find myself in discussions about death Metal with my friends (and even with my colleagues, and great metal connoisseurs of Blessed Altar Zine), since it is something that I love. And one of the most recurrent topics is the revival of Old School Death Metal that so much swarms among the bands of today. I see two great currents that are very common among the young hordes that try to break through in this genre: or they try to emulate, often without success, the Scandinavian sound of the early 90’s, or they are immersed in a cavernous whirlpool full of reverb á la Incantation.

The big question is, why did not anyone try, until now, to play like the biggest ones in Florida, in a solid and effective way? Here you have your answer.

In fact, the same band states that: “This is what MORBID ANGEL should’ve sounded like today …”. And the sound achieved is really devastating and very consistent with their vision to make extreme music, very devoted to his idols, although focused on getting relevant and terribly current.

I particularly disagree a bit with that statement, since Morbid Angel’s latest work really appealed to me. I think Morbid Angel is sounding like it should sound today. But that is another issue.

Excellently produced, with a sound that navigates in a controlled chaos, with compositions that move between structures of accelerated demolition and some moments that give more respite and show a band that transits for a more experimental, quasi-progressive facet, that reminds me a lot of the stage of “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh” or “Gateways to Annihilation”.

Without a doubt, this is the primal scream of a band of young professionals who came out to conquer the world, and who has in their hands one of the best death metal albums of 2018. A work that sounds incredible and that it does not give the listener respite. A frantic vortex of blasphemous odes to the classic hecatombs rising to heaven practiced by the wisest demons. 9/10 Sergio.