Ever since my teenage years way back in the late '80's/early '90's, I have been searching for and hoping to come across death metal of this quality and ferocity. After the mind-blowing triumphs that were 'Realm of Chaos', 'Consuming Impulse', 'Left Hand Path', 'Symphonies of Sickness' and both 'Slowly we Rot' and 'Cause of Death', I had pretty much known at that point that I preferred low tuned guitars and murky riffs. Of course finding music of this caliber was not always an easy thing as most people churning out death metal and releasing tangible material were those obsessed with incessant blast-beating, something that I have always been on the fence about. Sure, they serve their purpose well enough but when overdone they can thoroughly kill the mood and identity of a song.
Corpsessed are certainly a death metal band though they have a better grasp at doom than most bands who fall under that moniker. There are riff sequences that truly conjure conjure the horrors of the cosmos that Lovecraft only hinted at. The music here is truly cataclysmic. The note selections and their respective sequences are satisfying to the utmost. To hear this album is to know the true meaning of death metal.
Beside the stellar destruction and horror wrought by the guitars, the vocals are the quintessential icing on the cake. Death metal vocals can be very "make it or break it" for me. Some bands have insanely great music but in the end everything is reduced to naught as they had made the fatal error of embellishing their work with the likes of some lowly denizen who gargles cocks for a living. This is my opinion of Finland's Demigod. They took an otherwise decent album (The Slumber of Sullen Eyes) and proceeded to urinate upon it by using one of the weakest and most childish sounding "death metal" vocalists I've ever had the displeasure of hearing. Demigod, Corpsessed are not and their vocalist sounds like the human embodiment of a Kraken, roaring and flailing about in a colossal and unearthly rage.
The last thing I'd like to bring to light is the brilliant drumming throughout the album's duration. At one point I had noticed that there hadn't been any blasts and lo and behold "BOOM"! One of the most perfectly placed and executed blast beats came barging out of the speakers. I was stunned. This band can seemingly do no wrong. Nothing is overdone. Everything that is on display is done with master craftsmanship and perfection.
I can only hope that this band remains for some time to come and that they do not take years to follow up this triumphant display of cosmic upheaval.
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