Depravity – Evil Upheaval (Review)

Depravity are an Australian death metal band and this is their debut album.

Featuring a member of Impiety/The Furor, this is 40 minutes of 90s-inspired death metal. Morbid Angel fans in particular should pay attention, but this is really for any fan of bands such as Incantation, Suffocation, Immolation, Hour of Penance, Beheaded, etc. Basically, for any fan of muscular death metal that also has some pleasing quirks of character.

This is devastating stuff. Savagely brutal, Depravity blast and tear their way through the album’s playing time with the relish of a crazed killer doing what he does best.

This is the venerable metal of death played in the classic style, but with modernity’s love of utter brutality. The songs are well-written, and despite the sheer volume of face-ripping guitars and blistering drums, the band also find time for moments of macabre melody or grim atmosphere. Not only does this break up the album and inject some variety into proceedings, but it’s done very well so that these parts become highlights in their own right when they appear. Some of the keyboard-enhanced sections are quite majestic.

Yes, this may be brutal death metal, there’s substance and weight here that goes beyond the facile. It’s obvious that Depravity know their death metal inside out, but equally obvious that they can channel this love for the genre into music that’s more than simple aggression; enhanced with a dark vision for nuanced and compelling death metal, Evil Upheaval is an accomplished and rewarding slab of ugliness.

Very highly recommended.