New World Depression is celebrating its 20th anniversary with music.
For the occasion, Hütte (vocals), Sascha (bass), Ritchie (guitar), Sig (drums), and Julian (guitar) have signed with Testimony Records, with whom they are releasing their seventh album, Abysmal Void.
We kick things off with The Vault, which after a short unsettling intro, offers up uncompromising Death Metal, combining raw riffs, ferocious vocals, and fairly dark melodies, as well as a few heavier passages. Double kick revitalizes the rhythm that tramples us before giving way to Book of Trophies, which wastes no time in striking back, first violently, then with haunting harmonics, before giving way to the catchy, jerky groove of Spoils of War, which takes on a more sinister tone. The song is quite changeable, but it remains solid, especially in its final acceleration, which leads to Blind Eyes, where we find some very dissonant touches at times, complementing the slightly more conventional Old School violence at work, giving it a slightly different touch. Then Marching on Our Graves begins, offering us some British influences. While most of the riffs are thick, the harmonics add a welcome touch of melancholy before moving on to the explosive Burning Down, which will get many heads banging with its riffs tailored for the stage. Once again, the leads bring a sharper flavor to the jerky rhythm before returning to more anguished tones on Grenadier, whose groove obviously contributes to the ambient darkness, displaying a certain serenity despite a few well-placed accelerations. The introduction to Expect no Mercy is surprisingly calm, but the track is sure to ignite and hit us with all its power, slowing down only slightly on certain passages, then naturally giving way to Carnage and its more stirring pace. The solo slows things down slightly to emphasize its heavy feel, but once it’s over, the song picks up its cruising speed again to reach Moonbound Hunger, the last track with a slow but extremely effective groove that once again honors the roots of the genre and allows us to bang our heads one last time.
Old School Death Metal may be around 40th years old, but it still has a bright future ahead of it when you hear bands like New World Depression! If someone had told me that Abysmal Void was released in 1992, I would have believed them without hesitation, such is the power of the sound!
90/100