DECREPITAPH

"Death metal the ancient way" is the mantra; "the essence of 1991" the musical vision. The band to which such phrases refer is Dallas' DECREPITAPH and the album under review is "Beyond the Cursed Tombs", a worthy follow up to Razorback debut "Condemned Cathedral", itself an old school death metal release of varied tempos that found riff inspiration in the works of ASPHYX and atmospheric doom 'n dread from the earliest INCANTATION offerings.

Getting right to the point then, "Beyond the Cursed Tombs" is an equally strong and typically speedier version of "Condemned Cathedral" with "lots of fucking reverb" that mines familiar territory without being a mere regurgitation of its predecessor. The man they call Elektrokutioner is once again the lyrical/compositional mastermind, as well as drummer, backing vocalist, keyboardist, and bassist on several tracks. The stories told are of the doomed and the depraved, and the places inhabited castles, catacombs, crypts and, yes, tombs. All of it is gruesomely fun stuff in the finest Razorback tradition. Musically, you will find not a spot of polish or a dustless surface on any of these tracks. Elektrokutioner's recording is a warm and dirty one, which does not equate to poor sound quality; rather the vocals are cavernous and menacing, and the multitude of riffs sufficiently crushing, not to mention ASPHYX-like in several instances.

While there are many tunes that fall on the "up" side of the tempo, the slower, doomy aspects continue to be impacting and smartly placed. Such is the case when a churning break in "Castle of the Doomed" arrives and yet another of Sinworm's guitar solos slices through the air like a scythe, while the sorrowful, yet tuneful in an off-kilter sort of way, solo during the intro to "Desecrated Divinity" is a head turner every time it is played. Finally, the samples are used with discretion and always work to set the mood.

Those of you navigating waters infested with Pro Tools tech-death and down-tuned deathcore in a constant search for old school based DM, if for no other reason than its pure genuineness, would do well to pick up a copy of "Beyond the Cursed Tombs". If you're one of "those folks", chances are that you couldn't give a rat's ass about the complete lack of arpeggio sweeps in the DECREPITAPH songbook and you surely don't care whether any envelopes have been pushed.