HEAVING EARTH – Denouncing the Holy Throne
- Posted on 26-03-2015
Often in death metal, there will be distinctions based on where you are from in terms of the style you pursue. American acts have a tendency to be more aggressive, intricate, and technically minded, while European acts incorporate atmosphere, heaviness, and musicality for the most part. So when the script becomes flipped, the ears perk up as Heaving Earth are a quintet from the Czech Republic and on their second album "Denouncing the Holy Throne" deliver a monstrous, furious death metal sound that has a lot of Immolation and Morbid Angel intensity and chord phrasing plus relentless blast beats throughout.
The band present a wall of sound that surges, while the transitions provide seconds of recovery before the next sonic obliteration hits the brain and eardrums. "And the Mighty Shall Fall" for instance is a 1:41 instrumental where different guitar segments stream in and out, setting up the next main song "Worms of Rusted Congregation" where high pitched trills go hand in hand to the machine gun double bass taps- and yet the riffs are much more controlled. Those who love the dive bomb guitar tactics and guttural vocal lacerations can hoist "Forging Arcane Heresy" or "The Final Crowning" aloft at peak volumes as Heaving Earth display rabid bee swarm movements in rapid fire succession.
"Jesus Died" does indeed have that ominous, lurking feel when the snare hits are quarter notes to the pummeling double bass, as the guitars cascade like panes of glass breaking from all sides of a large cathedral. The lead work for this 7:34 song actually has the most melodic feel of the record, the closing riff haunting my dreams. For my first exposure to Heaving Earth, the impression left is quite pleasing. "Denouncing the Holy Throne" is for all Immolation and Morbid Angel fans prior to the "I" titled record.