Dead Congregation - Promulgation of the Fall (2014)

There's something very strange about this band to me. They don't suck and they actually do a lot right where many other bands fail miserably and they play blasphemous death metal which is a style close to my heart, yet there's something about them, I don't know WHAT the fuck it is, that just doesn't totally do it for me. I'm at a loss, especially since this album is an improvement over the last, which was none too shabby itself.

Basically, Dead Congregation is Morbid Angel crashing into Incantation. Unlike many who "tire" over the glut of bands who have chosen to go down this path, I happen to look forward to the next Incantation/Immolation/Morbid Angel clone. Unfortunately, a lot of these bands manage to fumble the ball when it comes to the shadowy quirkiness that the elder masters were so fond of sprinkling throughout their musical passages. Oddly enough, this is the one thing that Dead Congregation gets right beyond a shadow of a doubt. Many trills, many bent strings and many harmonics make their way into the proceedings, and yet there is something undeniably amiss. I just can't fucking call what it is!

Anyway, as it is, I'm sure everyone will love this and rightly so. It is a solid release that manages to leave its predecessor in the dust while retaining all the familiar elements that made that album what it was. Unlike the many other bands who ape Incantation, DC tends to throw in an admirable amount of variation and manages to avoid the cavern altogether with an almost thrashier vibe and sound. Kudos also to the band for staying the path as far as their cover art goes, which boasts an overall aesthetic similar to their -ep- and full length debut.

While this is certainly a good album, I can already tell that I won't be revisiting it much beyond this point. I don't know if its age or what but my interest level for this sort of thing has been dropping down a bit as of late. Oh well... I'm sure the kiddies will eat this up.