This is the latest EP from Australian death metal band Beyond Mortal Dreams.
Oh my, it’s somehow been 11 years (!) since I last caught up with Beyond Mortal Dreams, (Dreaming Death and Lamia). This ends now, with the appropriately named Devastation Hymns. I was impressed with both of those early releases, so I definitely intend to check out what I’ve been missing at some point. For now though, we have this new 31-minute release – five original songs and a Forbidden cover.
Beyond Mortal Dreams are savage and brutal, but also atmospheric in places. There’s occasionally a grandeur here I wasn’t expecting, wrapped around a violent core of deathly ferocity. This mix of death metal barbarity and infernal majesty is impressive, and works really well.
The songs are brutal, with blast beats that punish and guttural growls that swallow all light. The riffs burn you alive, while squealing leads and blistering solos flay your skin. Outbursts of steamroller groove flatten what remains. Amidst this fierce assault there are mood-focused layers, adding atmospheric weight to the death metal attack. The focus is very much on brutality, but I like that Devastation Hymns adds this malevolent touch to the music.
This is really good, really satisfying death metal. Beyond Mortal Dreams know how to write a good death metal song. Devastation Hymns is destructively good fun.
I’ll note the Forbidden cover too. This is remarkably faithful to the original, right down to the vocal style, which is very different to the normal dark grunts employed by the singer of Beyond Mortal Dreams. I’m impressed by his range and ability!
Fans of bands such as Ad Vitam Infernal, Altars Ablaze, Chaos Inception, Diabolizer, Garoted, Hate Eternal, Hour of Penance, Krisiun, Morbid Angel, Nile, Rebaelliun, etc. need to check this out.
Wonderbox Metal 