De Profundis – The Blinding Light of Faith (Review)

De Profundis are a death metal band from the UK and this is their fifth album.

If you haven’t encountered De Profundis before then you’re in for a treat. This is 43 minutes of timeless death metal, combining old-school classic appeal with forward-thinking progressive enhancements and striking melodies.

De Profundis are a band that made a strong impression on me when I first heart their 2014 EP Frequencies. This was then consolidated with the release of their extremely enjoyable 2015 album Kingdom of the Blind, which also made it onto my best of 2015 list as well. Now they’re back, with a new logo too. As this is a band that are constantly updating themselves, I was excited to hear what the 2018 version of De Profundis sounds like. The more old-school approach to their logo and album art was intriguing, for a start.

So, upon pressing play it’s immediately apparent that this new incarnation of De Profundis sounds bigger and bolder than ever. Although the band’s core sound that they developed on Kingdom of the Blind remains largely intact, The Blinding Light of Faith is a refined and improved version of this. Not just that though, it’s also heavier, with a larger, thicker production, and has more gristle and jagged edges to its sound. In a way, if you compare and contrast the band’s old logo with their new one, this gives you an idea of what they’ve done with their sound.

De Profundis’ death metal is well-constructed and thoughtfully laid out. The mixing of old-school muscularity with progressive tendencies and melodic flourishes leads to music that’s both memorable and absorbing. Intricate and multi-layered, there are eight songs on this album and each of them has their own character and presence. I always like an album where it’s easy to identify each individual track and what it adds to the whole, and The Blinding Light of Faith is a very well-rounded album with a solid flow.

I also want to mention the band’s singer. His voice in the past has been well-performed, but on this latest release he’s gone up a level in intensity and delivery. His voice sounds stronger than ever, both for his deathgrowls and rabid screams. Very nice indeed.

Well, it seems that De Profundis just keep getting better and better. All hail The Blinding Light of Faith!