Review Summary: 89 seconds to midnight
I’ve recently read some sensationalist news articles of astronomers saying that there is a sizable meteorite with a collision course that may have earth in its path around 2032. Mind you, it has a very minuscule chance of making contact (0.002% probability as of now), but it makes you wonder how all the civilizations of the world would unravel if we ever saw that percentage rise significantly over the coming years. It’s humorous to think something completely out of our power could end us when we were already doing everything in our power to end us anyways. Human beings have seemingly been a scourge to the earth, bleeding areas dry of their resources and moving on to the next, ever parasitic, functioning somewhat like a virus. While not an original concept within metal necessarily, Germany’s Omnicidal Instinct acknowledges that humans are doomed to a self-destructive fate one way or another and instead of wallowing in sorrow or doom, embraces it and uses it as inspiration for a very kick ass release that should not slip through your fingers.
Catharsis in Blight is a tastefully crafted slab of pulverizing brutal death metal that delivers more than you could ask for in nineteen minutes. Though this is the band's debut release, right out of the gate— it’s readily apparent this is not the groups first forte into metal. The most notable— and arguably most immediately distinguishable member of the bunch, is Paulo Henri Paguntalan of Encenathrakh on vocal duties. His putrescent array of vocal styles complement the music dearly and serve as a nice contrast to the meticulously technical instrumentation. To me, much of the allure of brutal death metal (when done right) is that unspoken dichotomy of knuckle dragging violence with ‘thinking man’s metal’ intentions. At introduction the impenetrability and objectively impressive talent of the performances are apparent— but with more focused listening, realize there are considerably fun liberties being taken with the song-structuring under all the filth. Omnicidal Instinct is a band that just gets
it and they excel in this effort by comfortably presenting themselves as surgically precise, yet putrid in design. The veiled technicality that’s intrinsically tied to this style of music is presented palatably,
discernible while abiding to the aesthetics of the subgenre. The palm muted guitar riffs and bass lines are consistently wicked. The cymbal work and overall tightness in the percussion playing is top shelf as well. It’s said your metal band is only as good as your drummer is, and in this case— that means this band is like,
really good. The multitude of distinct vocal styles displayed here help give the songs much appreciated variation in an admittedly homogeneous flow that’s innate to the subgenre. The gurgling, growling, and heaving vocals add an interesting layer to the intensity. Particularly at the end of ‘Obsidian Bile’ where Paulo sounds like he is melting in a puddle of his own body fluids. That instance is prefaced by tremolo picked chords that remind me of
Phlegethon era Devangelic’s use of darker tones. There are a number of stand out moments packed into
Catharsis in Blight’s brief but impactful runtime. In terms of an all-rounder though, you needn’t look any further than the superb song that is ‘The Incandescent Odium’. This song fires on all cylinders and the breakdown halfway through goes absolutely ham while being accompanied by an infectious chorus riff that’s hard to get out of your brain.
In all honesty, you wouldn’t be wrong with selecting any of these songs as your favorite. Even their demo song, ‘Finality’ from 2017 that’s tacked onto the end here is a solid reference point. Obviously using a real drummer now and a recording/mixing job done by the production master Colin Marston— the dissimilarities in execution alone lend to how imposingly refined their sound is now compared to then. If the symbolic Bulletin Doomsday Clock is anything to go by, it shows that current humanity is closer than ever to destroying the earth in an irreparable way. To be frank, this hypothetical meteor that’s to arrive in 2032 would probably be a more merciful fate. But regardless, what are you going to do about it? Turn
Catharsis in Blight up real loud and jam out to something that is worth your limited time. The band themselves said it best:
‘Humanity is long passed its expiration date. Find solace in knowing the end is near’.
