Far too often, we are asked to settle for the mediocre and the
uninspired - to accept that our existence will be a miserable slog of
workaday tedium. This is the expectation foisted upon us by life in the
21st century. And sadly, too many artists in scenes that are supposed to
embody the spirit of extremity and opposition to trends are happy to
oblige. Prague's HEAVING EARTH is not among them.
Since their crushing 2010 debut "Diabolic Prophecies", and through the
blistering 2015 follow-up "Denouncing the Holy Throne", HEAVING EARTH
have pushed the envelope of intensity and creativity in their style of
chthonian death metal. Now, after a seven-year wait, with a new
recording lineup, they have returned with "Darkness of God", an album
that represents an unprecedented evolution for death metal.
"Darkness of God", from the opening doom-infused reverberations and
sudden blasting onslaught of "Violent Gospels (Ordination of the Holy
Trinity)," to the dizzying lead melodies of instrumental "Earthly
Kingdom of God in Ruins," to the unnerving clean guitar strums at the
close of "Woeful Redemption," is an album that abhors comfort and
complacency. Every riff slithers, warps and twists through multiple
iterations before flowing seamlessly into the
next. Every song is a distinct experience in its own right, yet fits
perfectly into the greater mosaic of the album's 49-minute runtime.
While most of their peers are content to write songs as collections of
disparate riffs with a tenuous sense of continuity, HEAVING EARTH have
mastered the art of cohesive, yet challenging thorough composition. And
though the band is unafraid to explore any avenue for inspiration, and
employs dynamics to tremendous effect, they never cross the line into
gimmickry and always remain firmly committed to the essence of infernal
death metal.
One would be remiss not to mention the production work of Andrea Petucco
(AD NAUSEAM) which impeccably captures both the ferocity and
unpredictability of the album, with a mix that makes every detail of the
instrumentation easy to discern, and a DR10 digital master that rejects
the Loudness War standards, which have turned so many metal albums in
the digital era into a brick-walled mess.
This is death metal for those who refuse to settle for "pretty good."
This is death metal forged in the belly of the underworld.
This is HEAVING EARTH.