LIGHT UNSEEN- Visions of Archetype & Apocalypse
This is the way raw death metal should sound! Great riffs, heavy, loads of blastbeats—this is great old school brutal death metal for fans of early death/grind bands like Bolt Thrower, Repulsion, and Autopsy as well as God-fearing acts like Morbid Sacrifice, Metanoia and early Mortification, although Light Unseen are more technical than either of the Aussies.
“Eve of the Day of the Lord” pairs slow chunky riffs alternating with blastbeats. The death growls here are discernible which is a huge bonus to metalheads who like to pay attention to lyrics. “Heirarch” starts with a crusty, sludgy intro reminiscent of The Souls Unrest or even His Hero is Gone before blasting into breakneck speed again with those crunchy riffs we love. The lo-fi production values, coupled with the muddy guitar tones at times give this some similarity to crust punk or sludge metal, but to this reviewer that’s a huge bonus. The brutality of “Christus Invictus”, with its relentless blastbeats, vocal squeals and riffs waylays the listener’s ears and destroys (or alternately numbs) the senses.
The band lose half a star due to some occasional sloppiness, most evident in the breakdown during “I’ve Seen Them Fall.” The idea for the riff is cool, but as the drums go to double-time, the guitar riffs get lost a bit and lose track of the beat. Nonetheless it’s a decent track and is not too distracting overall.
This release has all the elements of quality death metal. I’m excited to see where they go next. (Nosral Recordings) 3.5 out of 5 stars
