Thursday, June 22, 2017

Ascended Dead - "Abhorrent Manifestation" (Dark Descent Records/Invictus Productions, 2017)

Band: Ascended Dead
Title: Abhorrent Manifestation
Genre: Death Metal
Year: 17th March 2017
Time: 37 min circa
Rating: 92/100













The debut album of Ascended Dead has finally arrived! "Abhorrent Manifestation" has come after 6 years into the ranks during which Ascended Dead released a demo in 2012 and the very acclaimed "Arcane Malevolence" EP in 2014. Especially this one, released by the Swedish label Blood Harvest, made Ascended Dead an underground cult pushed also by a certain Gene Palubicki of Angelcorpse fame because he foresaw that this band from San Diego, California, formed by 4 musicians very involved in other many projects, could've accomplished great things in the near future. After that EP, the discography of the band was filled by not one but even two compilations, and the last of them, the interminable "Ritus Mortuus", was released in 2016 by the same Ascended Dead. So, the hype for their long-awaited debut album was incredible into the most extreme sewers of the metal underground in a way very similar to "Hero" of Bölzer or "Primordial Malignity" of Tomb Mold. And the nice thing is that "Abhorrent Manifestation", released in North America by the strong label Dark Descent Records and in Europe by the Irish Invictus Productions, has completely respected the expectations of the fans through 10 strongly killer and memorable songs. But now, how justified is all this big enthusiasm about an album yet considered by many as a death metal classic?