New conquest for Feral.
After several years as Valmer & Hook, the band now comprising David Nilsson (vocals, Dwoom), Viktor Klingstedt (bass, Dwoom), Sebastian Lejon (guitar, Zonaria), Markus Lindahl (guitar, Dwoom) and Roger Markström (drums, Dwoom, ex-Leviathan) unveils To Usurp the Thrones, on Transcending Obscurity Records.
To Drain the World of Light welcomes us with our favorite HM-2 sound, which immediately begins to spread its rage with solid riffs complemented by savage vociferations. The scathing solo retains the ambient aggression, which is also found with a more oppressive touch on Vile Malediction, offering a slightly slower sound but still characteristic of Swedish-style Death Metal, which the musicians sometimes make darker and more impressive. Deformed Mentality takes off again at full speed, letting the riffs hit us at full speed with catchy patterns, but Bound to the Dead returns to a morbid groove influenced by some Death/Thrash elements, but which can also count on a ferocious double kick. The final acceleration carries us through to The Devouring Storm, where ominous tones are at work to recreate an anguished climate thanks to a slower overall rhythmic pattern, but which flares up again for the final solo before Spirits Without Rest comes to destroy everything in its path. Needless to say, the track is lively, its riffs speaking for themselves and incorporating bloody harmonics, while Decimated moves towards greasier tones and a few more massive passages to temporize at times. We return to raw fury in waves on Phantoms of Antiquity, a track where the bass adds groove with its thick hums, while we find more worked elements on the short Soaked in Blood whose introduction is finally erased by a jerky rhythm conducive to headbanging, especially on the last part. The atmosphere darkens again for Into the Ashes of History, but the band manages to combine it with their intense bestiality to create a fascinating veil of darkness, before dissipating it to let Stripped of Flesh close the album in the most unleashed violence possible, including a few macabre melodies.
Feral is the epitome of Swedish Death Metal. Whether wild or dark, every riff on To Usurp the Thrones is perfectly placed to serve the composition. The album simply has no flaws!
95/100
