Hostilities commence for Perishing.
One year after their demo release in 2024, the Costa Rican band composed of JM Arrea (drums, Astriferous, ex-Bloodsoaked Necrovoid), José Pablo Phillips (bass, Astriferous, Candarian), Justin Sánchez (guitar, Mortual, Necroferum), and J. Antonio Salas (vocals) signs with Transcending Obscurity Records and unveils its first album, Malicious Acropolis Unveiled.
Autolysis (I. Imago Fluidus Macula) immediately exposes us to its heavy sounds, massive riffs, and finally cavernous screams that complete the haunting and oppressive advance, sometimes complemented by disturbing leads. The final bass/drums/vocals passage is simply macabre, but the guitar returns for Autolysis (II. Fatum Cursed by Nature), which revives the stifling rhythm at a similar pace, focusing on the icy and imposing feel. The drums lead the creeping sound and provoke its heady accelerations with smoky Old School flavors before handing over to the dissonant Castle of the Leached Body, whose first notes immediately bring us back to that dirty and muddy touch. The composition is strikingly simple, reinforced by a cadaverous mix that suits it perfectly, but the band surprises with bursts of violence before giving way to Las Ruinas del Palacio, which weaves a slightly lighter atmosphere at the beginning. The harmonics float calmly between the beats before being sucked into thicker riffs that dominate the composition before finally reappearing at the end, then Osedax (Devoured by the Cavernous Worm) captures our minds with its chaotic leads. The vocals make a rather late appearance, haunting our progress, but they eventually energize the mix with waves of rage that push us on to Acropolis of Malignancy, where we once again move between thick cavernous sounds, unexpected accelerations and decelerations until the very last moment.
Every riff from Perishing reeks of macabre, cavernous, and extremely slow Death/Doom, but the band also knows how to infuse Malicious Acropolis Unveiled with a cadaverous energy for more raw Old School passages. A delight for necrophages.
85/100