TOUGHNESS – The Prophetic Dawn

The Polish horde known as Toughness offers a quite different take on death metal that is both intriguing and highly addictive. This raging, riff-laden beast is a pummeling assault on the senses where its hellish aura is constantly underlined by the buzzsaw sound of the guitars and the deep, growling vocals. The word evil is often thrown around when discussing black metal and old-school death metal but, in this case, it actually applies fully to what we are seeing and experiencing. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is creepy and unpolished death metal with a strangely disquieting vibe to it.  

The impressive thing about this grisly piece of work is that it leaves nothing to chance, which is to say that it sounds as if these guys have written the very best sections they could as opposed to throwing in a few random riffs here and there – there appears to be no compromises here whatsoever, which is commendable. No superfluous passages and nothing that does not serve a purpose – that is clearly the order of the day in the unnerving Toughness camp. Things move seamlessly from one part to the next and nothing ever turns stale or predictable on the disc. Unhinged and chaotic but relatively technical in places too, The Prophetic Dawn is filled to the brim with twists and turns that will delight and thrill the listener. Just listen to those rumbling bass lines that are often brought to the forefront or the borderline progressive, almost jazz-like guitars that occasionally rear their heads. The appropriately named ‘The Infernal Travelings’ perfectly exemplifies what I am talking about here as does the tune entitled ‘Forsaken Entity’. I need this one, which probably means that you need it too.