Review Summary: Death metal without remorse, Revulsion of Seraphic Grace is a powerhouse record of 2012.
There’s nothing sweet about Father Befouled, old school death metal in the same vein as Funebrarum or Cruciamentum. The music is dank, raw in its production, the growls are deep and the riffs swallow the listener whole. Featuring members from Encoffination, Decrepitaph and Black Funeral listeners can expect the music to have a quality only matched by the already mentioned bands.
Revulsion of Seraphic Grace reinforces that the old school death metal ways are far from dead. The music is primal and has an excellent display of well-placed throaty growls, throbbing riff lines and drums that never go over the top.
Revulsion of Seraphic Grace doesn’t try to be anything but a heavy, sinister death metal release.
After sharing a lot of split albums and having (and quite fairly) two year gaps between full length records Father Befouled finally release another record. There isn’t a lot different from their previous releases. The consistency they show is excellent between records; they match the intensity and quality with each album and match that with the tracks within the record. Tempos shift and draw out an eerie sinister atmosphere backed by rung out riffs similar to those found on doom records before the tempo is brought back up to a brisk walk. Unfortunately for the listener
Revulsion of Seraphic Grace is over too quickly. Despite the length of the final track ‘Triumvirate of Liturgical Desecration’ the album comes short of forty minutes. It could be said that this is a good length for most metal releases but in this case, it leaves the listener wanting more.
Father Befouled are in no way an innovative force (that’s probably why they call it ‘old-school’), this Chicago based powerhouse create their music on simplistic patterns that are done extremely well. There’s no frilly bits here, no endorsements for keyboards and nothing in the way of those hideous breakdowns. The closest it gets to anything out of the ordinary is the use of feedback on ‘Triumvirate of Liturgical Desecration’ where if anything only adds to the primal and raw (keep in mind that this wasn’t recorded in a tin can) sounds on
Revulsion of Seraphic Grace and the small use of effects found on ‘Impetus to Angelic Descension’ which creates a little more interest for the listener. For 2012 metal there is a lot to look forward to and a lot to look back on. Old school death heads look a long way back and find a sound that presents the listener with uncompromising values somewhat following an Incantation vibe. It’s not uncommon to have the two compared, not only to the early waves of death metal but to the members other acts. Its music to please fans, fans of the genre and for those looking to get into the simple things in metal itself. The music doesn’t drag out but rather cuts short Father Befouled present much of the same throughout the album but in the ideas simplicity the record excels. For listeners looking for some primal sounding new age death metal there may be a couple of places to look but Father Befouled’s
Revulsion of Seraphic Grace should a 2012 album to stand alongside Funeral Whore’s
Step Into Damnation and be an enjoyable listen for anyone who likes a sound reminiscent to that of Incantation.
