Occulsed - Crepitation of Phlegethon

Echoes from the bowels of the earth.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on January 7th 2022) 

It should be no secret to anyone who (for whatever reason) has been following my reviews that I love death metal. And thanks to this renaissance that we’ve been seeing, the genre has turned into an all-you-can-eat buffet. While that might be satisfying for a while, it does lead to the genre feeling saturated and samey, despite it being everything but. So you can imagine my surprise when I find a band that stands out. Occulsed, and their debut, Crepitation of Phlegethon is one such case.

The band presents us with what on the surface appears to be rather typical caverndeath. But upon further inspection one can find bits and pieces that bring to mind Morbid Angel, particularly in the leadwork. It’s an interesting combination of influences and it leads to a surprisingly fresh sound when coupled with the crawling tremolo and crushing doom riffs endemic to the style. The solos in tracks like “Peryphlegethonic Mindflaying” and “Death of Ratiocination” are definite highlights, and their presence throughout the album makes for a very varied and exciting experience, especially when coupled with Jared Moran’s drumming. His playing is particularly fill happy, and it adds a lot of flavour to tracks like “Concupiscence of Frenzied Humors”, making his performance one of this release’s greatest draws. Add Kenneth Parker’s breathy low growls on top and you’ve a recipe for success.

The production is also particularly noteworthy because of how old-school it sounds. Seriously, had you played this to me without telling me it was released last year I’d have assumed it was a forgotten release from the genre’s heyday. The guitars have this distinctly murky sound, drenched in reverb, while the drums are punchy, with the snare in particular popping out with its metallic sound, without becoming too abrasive. My only gripe with the production here is how low the bass is in the mix, as it’s not there for the most part and even during the slower moments it doesn’t have much of a presence.

My biggest gripe with this release though is how despite its brief length, it’s still plagued by filler. The two instrumentals present here don’t really serve much of a purpose, with one outright kneecapping the album’s pace by one being smack in the middle of it, and the other being at the end, as if it was an afterthought. While yes, it’s only two tracks, they take up 4 of the album’s 33 minutes and don’t fill them with anything interesting and only hurt the album on repeat listens. It would’ve honestly been much better had those 2 been left off the album. Sure, it would’ve been even shorter than it currently is, but I’d prefer 29 minutes of straight killer material. Also, what is it with metal bands these days and redundant short intros? What’s the point of having an 18 second track titled “Intro” that could’ve just been stapled to the song that follows it?

Despite my complaints, I cannot help but recommend Crepitation of Phlegethon. It’s an unexpected standout in an overcrowded genre and it deserves to be heard by more people. Occulsed is promising, and while this album isn’t perfect, it’s definitely something worth checking out for any avid death metal fan.

Highlights: Peryphlegethonic Mindflaying, Thou Butcherer of Human Folly, Concupiscence of Frenzied Humors

Rating: 74% 

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