Diabolizer – Khalkedonian Death (Review)

This is the debut album from Turkish death metallers Diabolizer.

Featuring members of Burial Invocation, Engulfed, and Hyperdontia, Khalkedonian Death contains 46 minutes of brutally aggressive death metal savagery.

The songs are fast and fierce, and they’re absolutely packed with murderous riffs that rage, rip, and tear through the material. A streak of classic USDM songwriting colour infects the music on Khalkedonian Death, adding a song-focused quality to the band’s ferocious output that’s compelling.

Although exceedingly brutal, the songs have a melodic underpinning that makes them highly enticing. The lacerating leads draw blood at every opportunity, while the striking solos burn holes in the air with their molten delivery. The bass guitar also makes notable contributions to the songs, which is great to hear, while the inhuman vocals growl like a daemon unleashed.

The album is a relentless assault on the senses. This doesn’t mean it’s a one trick pony, however, as Diabolizer know the death metal genre well enough to be flexible in their songwriting. The album might always smash your head in, but it does so in a few different ways. Alongside the pummelling blast beats sit mid-paced sections that can collapse buildings, and upbeat riff-fests that are simply monstrous. Atmosphere and melody are not forgotten either, and are embedded into the music’s aggressive core quite naturally.

This is devastatingly effective death metal. Infernally brutal and destructively barbaric at heart, it nonetheless demonstrates the sort of engaging, high quality songwriting and riff-craft that you rarely see these days. Diabolizer have created a monster, and anyone into bands like Hate Eternal and Krisiun need to put Khalkedonian Death at the top of their hit list.

Very highly recommended.