Consecration‘s third album is ready.
Formed in 2010 in the UK, the band now consisting of Daniel Bollans (vocals), Liam Houseago (guitar), Shane Amies (bass), Jorge Figueiredo (drums), and Andy Matthews (guitar) presents Cinis, which is set for release in 2022 via Redefining Darkness Records and Life After Death.
The band kicks off with The Dweller In The Tumulus, a composition which immediately places the Old School Death/Doom roots into slow riffs. The screams easily find their place in this unhealthy and dirty mix completed by some disturbing but quite melodic leads. Dave Ingram (Benediction, Ursinne, ex-Bolt Thrower…) will join the band on Ground To Ashes (A Cremulation) to offer to their abrasive mix a touch of additional aggressiveness and powerful screams, then the long Embrace Of Perpetual Mourning will reveal us soaring touches with an introduction in clear sound. The saturation will resurface while keeping dark and scary passages borrowed from Funeral Doom, and the slowness of the track allows it to hypnotize us before placing more energetic lead parts before giving way to the finale, and to A Dying Wish, a short melancholic interlude. These Fleeting Memories then comes to crush us with its throbbing riffs, its massive screams and its oppressive slowness, then the leads become more bewitching on the second part of the track. We feel them more intense, especially on this solo, then The Charnel House reveals the rawest parts of the band’s style with very powerful Death Metal influences. The track is quite short, and it quickly gives way to A Sentient Haunting which brings back those oppressive and much slower sounds. Melancholy is still part of this heavy mix which sometimes serves as the basis for epic leads before giving way to Unto The Earth Bethralled and its very dark beauty. Although rooted in slow, raw violence, the track will also feature some clean sound, creating an impressive contrast before calming down and letting In Loving Abandonment end the album gently.
Consecration handles the roots of Doom Death as it pleases to make its own universe, full of melancholy. Cinis is an impressive album which knows how to make room for softness and majestic elements to feed the contrast that inhabits it.
75/100