Tithe are a death metal band from the US and this is their third album.
Tithe’s previous record – 2023’s Inverse Rapture – was a hybrid extreme metal album that was difficult to pin down genre-wise, although that didn’t stop it from being a satisfying and enjoyable listen. Communion in Anguish focuses Tithe’s sound, pushing up the lethal aggression and dark atmosphere to new heights.
The promo blurb tells us that this is “hypnotic, grinding death metal”, and that Tithe’s approach to their new material is one of “amping up the aggression and doubling down on the unrelenting atmosphere of the previous record.” This is as succinct a description of Communion in Anguish as any.
Communion in Anguish is harsher, rawer, gloomier, and more hostile than its predecessor. It’s a 35-minute blend of feral savagery, controlled chaos, deliberate carnage, blackened dissonance, and abyssal doom. If you imagine a mix of Ilsa, Incantation, Outergods, Pyrrhon, and Usnea, you’ll have a rough idea of where Tithe are coming from.
Tithe’s music is still an unholy amalgamation of black metal, sludge, grindcore, and death metal, but on Communion in Anguish they have brought the latter aspect further to the front and added an extra dose of doom. Somehow though they have accomplished this by retaining noticeable sludge and grind elements – Communion in Anguish still has a hybrid style, it’s just that its death metal wrapping is now more prominent. Honestly, this tweak has done wonders for the band’s sound.
The songs are violent and murderous. Their sludgy assault is fuelled by death metal muscle and grinding intensity. The blackened dissonance of the last album continues to prowl the edge of Tithe’s music, sometimes being brought to the fore to slice and rend with envenomed blades. At other times the sludge devolves into crushing doom, swamping the listener in darkness. There are deep growls this time around, (which are a great addition to the band’s sound), bolstering the strangled screams and sludgy roars that we’re partially familiar with from Tithe’s past work. Why partially? Because here they sound more inhuman than ever.
Nasty, hideous stuff. Although I liked Inverse Rapture, this is better. Communion in Anguish heralds a new Tithe, one that has taken the strengths of their past work and improved upon them to a remarkable extent. Communion in Anguish is underground ball of raging intensity, and it’s really, really good.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 