Convulse

World Without God

Written by: EW on 27/01/2010 11:32:12

Like Nirvana 2002, Atheist and others before them the darlings at Relapse Records have seen fit to dust down the archives of ancient death metal, look under the section 'MIA' and pull out a record they believed was many years overdue a further inspection to see if death metal would have benefitted from their continued existence after the slaughter of the metal masses in the mid 90's. This time it's Finnish brutal death metallers Convulse and their 1992 debut LP "World Without God".

Having just worked through today's modern brutal assault in the shape of Abraxas, Convulse can be seen as the 1992 equivalent of such a style: ultra guttural vocals courtesy of Rami Jämsä; drums that sound as drums are meant to sound when being hit hard and fast; and predominantly simple yet dark riffs that deviate between medium and fast, for the time. All in all the final outcome is in the Incantation school of death metal: not for beginners or the faint of heart. Aside from the almost obligatory classically sampled intro (think Kreator's "Pleasure to Kill") I regret to report that we have nothing else approaching 'nice' in what comes to follow. "Putrid Intercourse" begins ala old Morbid Angel; "Resuscitation of Evilness" has that feeling of being run over very painfully by something very heavy in true Bolt Thrower style; "Incantation of Restoration" just feels like being beaten up by a particular vicious bastard and in "False Religion" Convulse mix up the speed more pertinently than elsewhere in such a fashion I wouldn't be surprised if Incantation took considerable influence from these guys in the tape-trading days of yore.

The sound is befitting the era of the time, again in contrast to that of the clinically-brutal assault of Abraxas, with an unremittingly dense and claustrophobic tone generated from the merciless grunts of Jämsä and his cohorts' simple down-tuned riffing. The key segments of the music are there for all to hear and while the lack of subtlety and clarity might be off-putting to some, I find this brand of DM much closer to the genre's rotten heart and thus can find genuine enjoyment in a record this proudly solid.

Concluded by the inclusion of the band's 1990 demo "Resuscitation of Evilness" (boasting a grindier, less beefy guitar sound) and two live tracks (including a cover of Venom's "Countess Bathory") one senses Relapse have dug up another forgotten record that while not ground-breaking for it's style in 1992 certainly benefits from some added historical and nostalgic value nearly 20 years later in what is now a very different world for such primitive death metal.

Download: Resuscitation of Evilness, Incantation of Restoration
For The Fans Of: Incantation, Monstrosity, Nirvana 2002, Repulsion
Listen: Myspace

Release date: 25.01.2010
Relapse Records

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