Like a demon’s birth in the darkest depths of hell, the death metal of Vasaeleth is a wretched natal ritual giving life to a truly horrific beast. Every so often the US death metal underground, and indeed worldwide too, falls victim to a ferocious new fiend and that newest fiend comes in the form of this new record – All Uproarious Darkness.
With one full-length already in the bag and various other releases, namely a split with Cruciamentum, Vasaeleth have seemingly been brewing this caustic offering for some time, which has manifested itself with this brief record.
There’s absolutely nothing but death and decay on All Uproarious Darkness. Through its terse 19 minute running time, the listener is subjected to a barrage of slimy death metal, totally lacking in clarity or anything that could even remotely be called “clean”. This was obviously the goal from the start and Vasaeleth have more than accomplished that.
The production lays as testament to all of this. Soaked in filth, each of these five songs is a death metal mire but with just the bare minimum of sheen so the riffs aren’t totally buried in the abyss. This is evident straight from the off with the title track initiating this ritual with buzzsaw riffs plucked from the oldest schools of death metal and virtually incomprehensible gargling vocals.
All Uproarious Darkness is kept in familiar territory for the most part and the formula isn’t tampered with in any way. Vasaeleth intend to play murky death metal, often in its most straight forward form with horns pointed firmly towards Incantation and Autopsy at their very best.
‘Fathomless Wells of Ruin’, lodged in the record’s midway point, truly encapsulates all that Vasaeleth and All Uproarious Darkness is about, vomiting forth utterly filthy riffs that gives way to a brief trudging, slow paced mid-passage before erupting again with sloshing riffs and relentlessly ear battering drum work.
‘Black Curse Upheld’ maintains the vibe with an altogether suffocating flurry of guitars and vocals, wittingly enveloping the listener in its world of darkness. By the time last track ‘Throat of the Grey Watcher’ winds down, one is totally submerged in the world of Vasaeleth.
At just less than 19 minutes, All Uproarious Darkness is extremely solid and gruesome offering from Vasaeleth once again.
All Uproarious Darkness is released by Profound Lore