Review Summary: A disappointingly average death metal debut
Look, in my mind death metal really needs one of two things to hack it – riffs or overwhelming atmosphere. Most bands choose to riff it out while others like Ulcerate or Teitanblood opt for wallowing in crushing atmospherics. Either can work brilliantly, but unfortunately Rahaty’s debut album
Bestial Lustmord chose to do neither.
Rahaty is the brainchild of the anonymous HE, who’s behind the Belarusian black metal outfit Pa Vesh En. For their debut, Rahaty essentially took the gristled and punishing approach Pa Vesh En brought to black metal and transcribed it to death metal. I suppose that makes sense considering this was allegedly supposed to be a Pa Vesh En release before getting spun off into a new project. But while Pa Vesh En excels at creating truly hellish soundscapes, Rahaty seems to kneecaps itself at every turn.
At just under 22 minutes spread out across nine tracks, including an intro and interlude,
Bestial Lustmord doesn’t really go anywhere intriguing. The mix on this album is overwhelmingly muddy which makes it almost impossible to hear what the instruments are doing most of the time. When the riffs are audible, it’s a scattershot as to whether they’re actually interesting or not. Much of the album is spent at a grinding pace while the guitars, drums and even vocals blend together into a nondescript fluctuating wall of sound. With more focused bands this approach can really pay off but here it generally falls monotonously flat.
Part of that is due to oft forgettable songwriting, but I think equally to blame are the frequently slower tempos and short runtimes. Any chance for a track to build atmosphere is neutered by its two to three minute length. It’s a confusing choice for sure, and that’s without mentioning the unnecessary intro and interlude that really only serve as padding and become a bit grating on subsequent listens.
All this said, there are still moments of intrigue to be found here. “Sanctified in Blood” includes some DSBM wails buried beneath the smothering mix and features some devilishly cool hammer-ons along with sweet dissonant riffing. It’s also a bit faster and has more momentum than much of the rest of the album. “Scorched Beneath the Solar Seal” also sees the band dialing up the aggression to great effect. The vocalist clearly has a versatile range even if it’s not showcased often.
But most of this record is pretty forgettable. Sure it can be crushing and brutal, but it's all stuff you’ve heard a million times before. Unfortunately, with
Bestial Lustmord, Rahaty doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. Which is a bummer, because their main project, Pa Vesh En has written some truly unhinged, evil sh-t. For example, go listen to
Martyrs to hear what I mean. It makes
Bestial Lustmord feel like a half-baked odds and ends album, or a death metal b-sides to the much better and bleaker black metal project.
I do give Rahaty points for trying though. There are moments on this album that hint at what could be in future releases. A cavernous, hypnotic death metal album filled with depressive wails, expansive songwriting and dissonant guitar leads? Hell yes. Or maybe incorporating some of the (paradoxically) slower, viler riffs and atmosphere found on Pa Vesh En albums mixed with some death metal bludgeoning? Let’s go. But as it stands, this album is largely an average genre exercise.
