VASAELETH

The spirit of INCANTATION's "Onward to Golgotha" lives on in the empty cavity that once contained the souls of VASAELETH's members on "Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin". Continuing an underground trend — the term used in anything but the derogatory sense here — that has seen a host of bands across the world kicking it old school by eschewing modern technology and spreading the plague organically in both sound and in the furtherance of feel over technicality, VASAELETH keep it grim and gouged out with their Profound Lore debut.

There is little here that sounds unfamiliar, nor does "Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin" better releases by the likes of bands such as FATHER BEFOULED, DEAD CONGRETATION, or labelmates IMPETUOUS RITUAL. It will, however, slam shut open coffins at Catholic viewings of Christian corpses with its overwhelming force and ensures the slow suffocation of those trapped and clinging to life in torture tombs. The songs rumble, often quite speedily, through pitch black corridors of sonic torment, as bellowing vocals do little more than serve as additional instrumentation, more like a ritualistic conjuring of evil spirits that accompany beastly riffs and smoke-billowing rhythms, than patterns that lead or direct in a melodic sense. Oddly, the little oxygen that remains in a room filled with the sounds of the album is as healthy as smog and leaves one with the distinct taste of soot in the mouth and sulfur in the nostrils, just as one would hope from such a release.

When it comes right down to it, metal folks either love or hate this style of death worship, in either case the emotion often rabid and unwavering. For those firmly entrenched in the love, "Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin" benefits from several moments of ungodly crush, more than a few riffs that surge with murderous intent, and rhythmic propulsion than alternates between morbid dirge and hellish gallop (more so the latter). Thus far, the movement has been a fruitful one and "Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin" provides no evidence to the contrary.