Deadspace lives again.
Since announcing their return in 2021, Chris Gebauer (vocals, Exitium Sui, Humanitas Error Est, Lebenssucht…), Herb Bennetts (drums, Woewarden, Aviscerus), Thomas Major (guitar, Woewarden, Flesh Worship), Dan Jackson (bass, Woewarden, Crypt Crawler) and Theuns Olckers (guitar, Sheol of Abaddon) have not rested on their laurels. After an EP updating some of their key tracks, the band released Unveiling the Palest Truth on Immortal Frost Productions.
The album opens with Enter the Valley of the Dead, a heavy oppressive introduction where dissonant sounds surround us as we enter a dark universe. Drew Griffiths‘ voice greets us and leads us out of the fog into Within His Wretched Tomb, where majestic riffs and tortured screams await to vomit their suffocating darkness upon our face. The screams’ depth remains impressive, yet perfectly blends with the frantic rhythm and the slower, more ethereal part, creating a heart-rending contrast that continues when Chris Gebauer‘s voice returns on the final, before Dwell in Desdemona allows us a very brief moment of floating that will of course be crushed by the return of the riffs and vocal eruptions. The martial drums lend a much more aggressive tone to the band’s sound, while letting us to sink into terror during the more soaring parts, especially in the last moments, which slowly fade away to make way for Unveiling the Palest Truth, the eponymous track, which immediately shrouds us in its cold dissonance. The throbbing rhythm, accompanied by a few words in the background, is suddenly transformed into a veritable surge of devastating Old School roots, slowing down again while retaining the same raging vocals, before abruptly fading out followed by the keyboards of A Feast for the Rats, the final track, which starts off very slowly but remains anchored in a seizing darkness, which the band covers with its usual heaviness. It’s also worth noting that vocals are more virulent and savage than usual, making the sound as apocalyptic as it is hypnotic to the very last moment.
Deadspace’s evolution is very natural. The band keeps its raw basis of unhealthy oppressive riffs, but Unveiling the Palest Truth allows them to explore dissonance and heaviness, and create chaotic atmospheres that fit perfectly with their new identity.
95/100