De Profundis – The Corruption of Virtue (Review)

This is the sixth album from De Profundis, a death metal band from the UK.

More De Profundis is always a welcome thing. 2018’s The Blinding Light of Faith was particularly impressive, but I also highly recommend 2015’s Kingdom of the Blind too. I have been looking forward to The Corruption of Virtue and it has not disappointed.

The songs that Dr Profundis write always have a lot packed into them. Not in an overly busy way, but rather in the way that they can take a standard set of instruments and use them to say a lot; the music is simply very well-crafted. De Profundis know how to make death metal that speaks to fans of the style. This is song-based music influenced by the classic strains of death metal and bent by the band’s indomitable will into tracks that keep on giving.

The band’s technical delivery lacks nothing in emotional weight. The intricate songs combine direct appeal simplicity with depth of delivery through sheer force of quality songwriting talent. Melding dark melodic might with the sort of rhythm guitars that most death metal bands would kill for, De Profundis bring a Hellishly impressive package to the table.

The songs are packed with hooks and catchy elements. Mood and feeling aren’t neglected for aggression or speed; both coexist in an exquisitely rendered picture of expressive and progressive death metal. Laced with exploratory bass, festooned with guitar riffs that stick in the mind like pleasant thorns, and driven by no-frills composition skills that nonetheless feel rich with meaning and substance, The Corruption of Virtue is everything I wanted from a follow-up to The Blinding Light of Faith, and then some.

Oh, and the band’s singer sounds better than ever too; his charismatic growls are both brutal and surprisingly legible.

The Corruption of Virtue is the pinnacle of what De Profundis have unleashed on the world so far. I can’t recommend this highly enough for anyone that likes timeless death metal.

Essential listening. Don’t miss out.