Aussie resident’s Faceless Burial are something special.
Since forming in 2014 they have joined the new breed of death metal bands dipping their toes in the old school style but what Faceless Burial have done is carve out their own path & pretty much climbed their way to the top!
The band’s first release “Grotesque Miscreation” was a massive explosion in the underground. Turning heads for being a solid & diverse debut. 2020’s “Speciation” saw the band take an even bigger leap and write what some (and me as well) believe was the best death metal album of that year.
Now after a two-year wait the band gives us “At the Foothills of Deliration”. An album comprising just under 40 minutes with 6 diverse tracks. All were recorded on 24-track tape in December 2021 by Finn Keane at Headgap Recording Studio (Melbourne). The album was mixed and mastered using all analogue technologies by Pete deBoer at World Famous Studioanalogue to tape & mixed and mastered.
“Equipoise Recast” , the album’s opener, starts hard. Blasting away with chugging but interesting guitar riffing. Showing the technical ability the band & guitarist Füj already has.
Alex Macfarlane the bands bassist & vocalist is so impressive on the track. A very deep guttural vocal style but diversified enough to keep the listener on their toes. A six minute track that explores all avenues of death metal. Sometimes the riffs lean into the progessive side like on later Death records but also it has its simple moments like the dark brooding of Incantation or Morbid Angel.
Opening with a heavy ass riff “A Mire Of Penitence” gives us a brief, more stripped back side of Faceless Burial but still with tempo changes & little pinch harmonics & blasts to keep their DNA there. As the track meets its half way point the band again moves back into the progressive side. The bass lines here are hypnotic as the band drops out and gives us a few sections of Alex’s thick but cutting bass tone.
The backbone of all this crazy & amazing riffing is complimented by Max Kohane’s drumming. Nothing simple or boring here. Just a great drummer adding great textures to the song & giving the band the service they deserve. Keeping up with all the fast tempos & timing changes Max shines here. His drumming on the last album was fantastic. But on “At The Foothills Of Deliration” it’s his best yet!
At the halfway point “From the Bastion to the Pit” shows the band aren’t slowing down & have still have plenty of amazing riffs up their sleeve.
The track with the most groove throughout. Full of headbanging & finger tapping moments this track feels like its name. It’s a track right for the pit!
The bridge sees the band hit a heavy chugging breakdown section, tight, powerful & yet again full of tempo changes that keep you on your toes.
The final track “Redivivus Through Vaticination” is an eight minute epic.
Feeling like the band saved all their craziest riffs & ideas for this track, this song is chaotic in the best sense.
Jaw dropping guitar hooks lead up the halfway max at four minutes and bring in another groove ladened riff that gets the head bobbing before opening it up into riff city. Much like their counterparts Blood Incantation or Skeletal Remains, Faceless Burial use the DNA of traditional death metal but add layer upon layer to create their own DNA strand that stands firmly up all subgenres of death metal.
Faceless Burial among a few others are creating their own lane within the death metal underground right now. “At The Foothills Of Deliration” is the band’s best work to date & shows what a ton of effort, great mixing & mastering can do for a band’s album. This is a fantastic album & if you love diverse death metal is a must buy!
Joseph Mitchell
At The Foothills Of Deliration is out via Dark Descent Records / Me Saco Un Ojo on 7th October 2022
| 01 Equipoise Recast | 6:09 | |
| 02 A Mire Of Penitence | 6:36 | |
| 03 Dehiscent | 5:50 | |
| 04 From The Bastion To The Pit | 7:00 | |
| 05 Haruspex At The Foothills of Deliration | 3:10 | |
| 06 Redivivus Through Vaticination | 8:03 |
Dark Descent will release At The Foothills Of Deliration CD, tape, and digital formats with Me Saco Un Ojo handling vinyl treatment.
Pre-order:
https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/at-the-foothills-of-deliration
FACELESS BURIAL is
Alex Macfarlane – Bass, Vocals, Synthesiser
Max Kohane – Drums
Füj – Guitars