On their own, death and black metal are formidable in their own rights. From the first listen I ever had of Dissection’s ‘Where Dead Angels Lie’ EP though, I’ve always been of the opinion that you simply cannot beat it when the two genres are combined, and a taste of thrash is thrown in for good measure and extra speed. Diabolic Rites have nailed the balance with their debut full length ‘Litanies of the Lecherous’ which features ten tracks of unrelenting blackened thrash with a tasty dose of death metal influence.
I’m hearing some influence from the more renowned bands like Mayhem, early Immortal, early era Dissection and Dark Throne which comes as no surprise. But I am more so hearing influence from more of the underground bands from decades past, such as Blasphemy, Antichrist and Australia’s Bestial Warlust with a healthy injection of extra speed. In the modern age of audio production, even this style of unrelenting delivery can sound incredibly polished and audible, and Litanies of the Lecherous is no exception. The production on the recording is crystal clear in all its chaos, which allows it to deliver the listener the crushing experience they surely intended on. It is clear that these guys have done their homework going into the recording process, and it definitely pays off.
If you like a solid blend of big riffs and razor speed guitar, pure unrelenting chaos drumming (courtesy of Australia’s pioneer of extreme drumming Matt ‘Skitz’ Sanders), and the calls of the darker depths… this is your album. With the rise of Australian underground black and death metal really gaining momentum again after a hiatus firmly etched in the underground, I would be expecting to see a lot more of Diabolic Rites over the coming year. Do yourself a favour and visit their bandcamp page and get yourself a vinyl copy of this monster of a debut release.
4/5
Independent
Reviewed by Chris McEwin