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THAUMATURGY "Pestilential Hymns"
THAUMATURGY "Pestilential Hymns"
By Dr. Abner Mality
For those not in the know, thaumaturgy is the magical creation of miraculous effects. I wouldn't say "Pestilential Hymns" qualifies as miraculous, but it winds up being a pretty strong chunk of dark and gloomy death metal. THAUMATURGY bring to mind a number of seminal death metal acts yet they aren't super derivative of any one of those classic acts....which is a strong recommendation.
They combine the cavernous doominess of INCANTATION with the speed and technicality of MORBID ANGEL and the vocal approach of Martin van Drunen of PESTILENCE and ASPHYX. Add in the occasional touch of keyboard-fueled eeriness and a slight black metal influence and you have THAUMATURGY. Their songs tend to be on the long side, but not to excess, giving them room to toss in lots of time changes and dark riffing. Tracks often start in one place and wind up somewhere completely different...check "The Shadow Approaches" and "Plague Ritual" for best examples of this.It brings to mind the stylings of another legendary death metal band, IMMOLATION.
Final track "Forced March" is the longest but also the most straightforward, with an awesomely crunchy and direct riff propelling it. There's no truly "blow away" track here, but the quality is remarkably consistent and THAUMATURGY pulls off that neat trick of being in the style of the elder gods while having their own identity. I don't know if that will help them stand out in the increasingly crowded death metal scene, but it sure won't hurt. A nice little chunk of morbidity here.
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