Depravity – Bestial Possession (Review)

Depravity are an Australian death metal band and this is their third album.

It’s been a while since 2018’s Evil Upheaval and 2020’s Grand Malevolence, but both records made their mark. Well, 2025 marks the return of the mighty Depravity, so can Bestial Possession clear the high bar set by its two predecessors?

Damn right it can. Bestial Possession is a 39-minute work of brutal devastation.

This is timeless death metal nastiness. It’s brutal, carries an old-school heart that’s buried within its iron ribcage, but also has a contemporary delivery and a technical edge. Depravity bring a few different influences into their style, resulting in a well-rounded slab of death metal that should definitely find favour with fans of bands such as Altars Ablaze, Chaos Inception, Hate Eternal, Hour of Penance, Imperishable, Krisiun, Nile, Morbid Angel, and Werewolves.

This is exacting, precision ferocity. It’s a hideously satisfying listen and the songwriting is strong. The band rip through the material with murderous relish. As far as death metal goes, I love Depravity’s commitment to savage intensity and blasting fury, but I’m also pleased that they still find time amidst the carnage to inject their music with meaty substance.

Bestial Possession is filler-free, with no pointless intros or interludes, which is something quite rare these days, sadly. The riffs are lethal, the vocals inhuman, and the drums punishing. The band unleash a selection of dark gruesome melodies, molten leads, and sinuous solos, to great effect, adding colour to their assault. The music is also rich in worldbuilding dynamics that may be saturated in death metal brutality, but are engaging and moreish nonetheless. Depravity know how to dish out the hooks when they need to too.

Bestial Possession goes for the throat with full commitment to the horrifying cause, and it always draws blood. This is the sort of high quality death metal I just can’t get enough of, and I urge you to check out Depravity’s new record, you won’t regret it.

Essential listening.