Deteriorot confirms its return.
Formed in 1990 from the ashes of Mortuary, the band led by Paul Zavaleta (guitar/vocals) has experienced several periods of calm, but is now fully motivated in 2025 to release its fourth album, Awakening, with James Goetz (drums, Redivider, ex-War Curse), Travis Meredith (bass, Volcandra, ex-Redivider) and Arthur Reid (guitar, ex-Krvsade).
The album begins on an unsettling note with Awakening, a fairly simple introductory track that starts off ethereal but quickly shows its saturated colors before becoming much more aggressive on The Flame, the following one. Cavernous growls make the mix as oppressive as possible, reminiscent of slow Death/Doom influences with piercing leads, but the band also knows how to return to its furious blast as on In Battle to Survive, which follows suit and assaults us without mercy. The harmonics do their part to fuel the oppressive atmosphere, and then the musicians attack with Horrors in an Everlasting Nightmare, offering a very jerky rhythm that shelters whispers and other dissonant elements, but also a strangely melodious and reassuring moment. A Ghost in the Mirror takes over and adds to an already solid foundation of terror with a fairly calm rhythm that gives pride of place to the guitars before accelerating without warning, then it’s with Deliver Us From Fiction that we willingly bang our heads thanks to a sustained pace. The ferocious riffs grow heavier for a moment before flaring up again to join Haunting Images From a Past Life, which starts slowly, breaks down, then returns with a haunting approach that we also find on Programmed By Fear, betraying a certain obscure but effective simplicity. The song explodes for a moment before returning to its heavy pace and finally reaching Winter Moon, where the sound becomes a little more aggressive, particularly on the martial passage and the furious final, where the band proves once again that it knows perfectly well how to display violence. In Silence then begins, slightly more solemn, but claiming the same heaviness before the sound explodes again on The Spirit, a composition that pours out all its rage under a sustained blast for nearly two minutes and only stops when To Sleep finally closes the album.
Whether you like dirty, grimy Death Metal or horrifying, anguished sounds, Deteriorot is the band for you. Awakening is constantly torn between playing fast or very slowly, but the album is effective in both positions.
75/100
