Review Summary: A disturbing, sinister gaze into the depths of atmospheric death
Finland’s Desolate Shrine crept onto the death metal radar about midway through 2011 with their bleak and crushing debut,
Tenebrous Towers, and while the album received moderate acclaim in the underground/blogosphere, the timing of its release did the band no favors. During a year in which extreme metal saw numerous releases push the boundaries in spectacular fashion (Ulcerate’s
The Destroyers of All, Flourishing’s
The Sum of All Fossils and Tombs’
Path of Totality all come to mind), the band’s debut was somewhat overlooked.
Returning with a new offering less than two years later, Desolate Shrine have crafted a suffocatingly dense slab of death metal that puts them at the forefront of the burgeoning atmospheric death metal scene. Combining traditional death/doom elements with a black metal aesthetic and an ever-so-slight touch of atmospheric sludge,
The Sanctum of Human Darkness is a sadistic trip to the pits of hell.
Swirling guitar riffs, rapid tempo changes and a two-pronged vocal attack (that only adds to the insanity) are filtered through a fuzzy haze of analog sludge, giving the album a feel that’s simultaneously vintage and cutting edge without sounding forced. In fact, that’s the truly amazing aspect of this record – despite all of the vicious death metalling, it just feels effortless (the nearly 55 minute run time flies by in a blur). Hopefully the end-of-year release date doesn’t cause this album to fly over too many heads, because this could very well be the best death metal album of 2012.
