Aberration/Diabolic Oath – Divinations – Split (Review)

This split is between two US bands, Aberration and Diabolic Oath, both of whom play black/death metal.

Each band contributes one song to this split. We start with Aberration, with the six-minute Divinations of Flesh. Aberration contain members of Nothingness, Void Rot, and Suffering Hour, so it’s safe to say expectations are high.

Divinations of Flesh is a blackened wrecking ball, driving powerfully through the airwaves and into the meat of your brain with jackhammer force. It’s dark and relentless, with a creepy miasma of evil that shrouds it like a poisonous mist. This is death metal brutality that’s been corrupted by black metal’s malign influence, resulting in something impure and violent. Despite the carnage it wreaks though, it also maintains a malignant atmosphere that’s potent. Fans of Archgoat, Abyssal, and Altarage take note.

After that onslaught comes Diabolic Oath. Their track is named Divinations of Wrath and is also six minutes long.

Much like Aberration, Diabolic Oath’s music is a manifestation of hideous black/death violence and carnage. Barbaric and spiteful to be sure, this song is a remorseless assault that brings to mind a mix of Arkhon Infaustus, Coscradh, and Archgoat. The song thunders along with blackened aggression and dark malefic intentions. Harsh riffs maim and kill, while sparks of spectral melody play against the darkness like brief flares of false hope. The final section of Divinations of Wrath is a particularly strong way to end the song too – an atmospheric depth that progresses deeper into the vortex with every iteration.

Apparently Divinations is the herald of a new album from each of these bands. This bodes well; based on these two songs, I definitely need to keep an eye out for those.

Highly recommended for underground connoisseurs.