Construct of Lethe – A Kindness Dealt in Venom (Review)

This is the third album from US death metal band Construct of Lethe.

Construct of Lethe’s last album Exiler came out in 2018, and was a brutal affair of merciless death metal. The band have moved on since then, and A Kindness Dealt in Venom offers up a mix of death and black metal, with touches of doom, and further enriched by electronics, synths, and industrial elements. Its foundation is a death metal one, but it’s not limited to purely this genre.

A Kindness Dealt in Venom is a concept album that runs for 45 minutes. For additional context, I’ll quote some text that came with the promo – “This album is meant to be taken as a single track. There are 12 relatively clear sections that it can be broken into, but this album feels like more than the sum of its parts, if that makes sense.” I always prefer albums of this sort to be just a single track, but that’s not the case here, which I think is a wasted opportunity. Not that it matters too much – the music itself is the important thing, and A Kindness Dealt in Venom is exceptional.

A lot of time, energy, and passion has clearly gone into the making of A Kindness Dealt in Venom. The record is deeply personal, yet also reflects the fact that across the various band members they have a wealth of experience that they bring to bear, (including such acts as Aronious, Benighted, Mithridatic, and Near Death Condition).

Across this ambitious album you’ll encounter a range of moods, styles, and ideas, all rooted in Construct of Lethe’s multifaceted music. There’s scathing brutality, the likes of which Hate Eternal do so well, as well as sickening Morbid Angel groove and malevolent leads that infect the work like an otherworldly plague. The blackened death metal of Behemoth is a guiding light in the murk, while the sinister touch of Gorguts-esque dissonance bleeds across the edges. These bands are only waymarkers for the core of the Construct of Lethe sound; around this are built other structures of varying types.

The blackened components allow the music to transcend sheer brutality, adding an emotive edge to the harsh intensity. The same can be said for the doom influences, which allow the band to offer a greater diversity in moods and paces. The industrial and electronic aspects enhance where they’re used, allowing for a richer expression than if they were absent. The blending of aggression and atmospheric depth is well-judged, and the album flows well from movement to movement with malignant grace.

The music spreads out like a darkness across the land, overshadowing everything it touches. From sparsely bleak minimalism to intricate complexity, and everything in between, Construct of Lethe embark on an epic journey into a despairing soundscape that’s all-consuming. Highlights are many, and frequent. Generously textured and manifesting as an absorbing tapestry of extreme metal, A Kindness Dealt in Venom is absolutely best experienced as a singular whole.

A Kindness Dealt in Venom is an exploration of extremity. While tied to its death metal heart, it’s by no means restricted by this. This is immersive, atmospheric death metal, (for lack of a better overarching term), that’s unflinching in its search of meaning through utter brutality and expressive atmosphere. Construct of Lethe have produced a ridiculously strong album, and if you have a taste for the sort of scathing brutality that will burn your face off, but also make you feel, then A Kindness Dealt in Venom is for you.