Abyssal ascendant - Chronicles of the doomed worlds : part I (2015)

Chronicles of the doomed worlds part I : Enlightenment from beyond is the first album of the french death metal band Abyssal ascendant. It follows the release of a good demo last year (read HERE my review of this demo, with the interview I did with their guitarist / singer).
 The album takes where he demo left and bring it to a higher level. Abyssal ascendant is still one hundred percent death metal, of the US kind, definitely old school but with a good dose of "epicness" that reminds Nile, or Morbid angel, sharing with the latter the same fascination for the Great Old Ones.
 But the strong point of the album is the songwriting, strictly speaking, because what I mean here is really the ability to write good songs. Many bands try to be the fastest or most technical or brutal as they can, sometimes it works and it's great (when the band manage to combine technical ability with a good songwriting), often it just bury the listener in a mass of guitar layers, doube kicks and pigs squeals, and you get bored very fast because it sounds the same the whole album, you just can't distinguish a song from another or sometimes not even a riff from another. Abyssal ascendant, while having no problem at keeping the brutality and playing at a death metal level, are very good at keeping it simple and going straight to the point (going nearly trash metal at times, which is fine with me). You can follow what every instrument is doing, every vocal lines, and how they combines and work well together to form a good song. Every song is memorable and "catchy" in an old school death metal way.
After the instrumental intro (every lovecraftian themed album needs it, right?) the first song starts the album very strongly, delivering blows after blows, with a strong epic feel, at the first listen you know this is a "death metal hit". the following songs have a less direct and immediate impact, but after a few listen you realise you remember the riffs, rhythms, and that the whole album is great as well. And you'll get back to it, and after every listen you'll like it more. This is indeed a very enjoyable and addictive album.

Yes, that was my "love death metal and the old school" moment of the month! if that strikes a chord in you don't hesitate for a second and go for this really good death metal album!

The Bandcamp page

their website