"Sermon Of Apathy" is perfectly suited for fans of darker and twisted death metal.
Black Lion Records is shaping up to be one of the most highly regarded underground labels in the world. They have introduced and supported some absolutely killer bands of late, and Desolator is absolutely no exception to their talented roster.
From Stockholm and incepted in 2009, the four-piece lineup has enjoyed a fairly stable existence over the last decade and released their first full length back in 2013 which was released to a fairly positive response. Their latest offering “Sermon Of Apathy” is rooted primarily in the death metal you would expect to hear from the Swedish alumni, but also hints at influences from some of the darker worldwide death metal bands such as Immolation and Dismember among others.
They creatively use dark melodic passages and quick visitations throughout their low end focused riffing to draw the listeners attention back in where you would sometimes be happy to just zone out and listen without focus. Intelligent songwriting, creative guitar work and a killer production gives “Sermon Of Apathy” a super professional product they should be very satisfied with.
As the press release states, “Sermon Of Apathy” is a slow burn. Each of the seven tracks has it’s own persona within the full length offering. While the vast majority of tracks sit within the mid-pace realm, typical of what you come to expect from Swedish death metal, the sections where they level up are truly crushing. There is some excellent melodic work through as well, notably in the mid-section of the opening track ‘Portal Tomb’ and in ‘Methods Of Self-Deception’, while the dark and brooding flow of ‘Creatures Of Habit’ appears to be textbook Immolation inspiration manifested. They even managed to wrangle a guest guitar solo out of Karl Sanders (Nile) on the track ‘The Great Law Of The Dead’.
Due for release this year on September 4 through Black Lion Records, “Sermon Of Apathy” is perfectly suited for fans of darker and twisted death metal. If you like your brutality to have some twists and turns, yet remain firmly etched in the depths of musical depravity the pre-order yourself a copy of this one.
4/5
Black Lion Records
Reviewed by Chris McEwin
