ENGULF
ENGULF “The Dying Planet Weeps”
By Dr. Abner Mality
Anybody who enjoys the classic tech-death of PESTILENCE, ATHEIST and GORGUTS should give ENGULF a try. It’s basically a one-man band courtesy of one Hal Microutsicos, who also plays in the band BLASPHEMOUS, but he’s invited some high powered friends to help him out, including members of ABORTED, ALLUVIAL, HIDEOUS DIVINITY and more. That was a good move, because nothing about ENGULF sounds canned or computerized. It does sound like a genuine band.
ENGULF is “tech” but not “ultra-tech”, meaning they don’t go completely crazy with Machiavellian time shifts, insane guitar maneuvers and the dreaded jazz fusion syndrome. But by no means are the songs here easy and grooving. They are not particularly speed oriented either, which is apparent right from the first song “Withered Suns Collapse”, which builds slowly from a subdued beginning into a climax that sounds like “Testimony”-era PESTILENCE colliding with the dissonance of GORGUTS. Hal’s vocals also mirror Martin van Drunen and Patrick Mameli with that peculiar phlegmmy slurring approach.
“Ominous Grandeur” is even more doom oriented and really unleashes some queasy, oozing riffs. That kind of sound always brings the heaviness out, but they don’t overdo the dissonance ala ULCERATE. Other tracks like “Lunar Scourge” and “Earthbore” are fascinating in the way they morph and twist. It’s a very familiar sound in some ways, but still exotic in others.
ENGULF wear their heart (and their influences) on their sleeve so there’s no pretension to be anything other than classic technical death metal. If you like that sound, better track this down…