Redivider completes five years of work.
After a first demo in 2022, the band composed of Jacob Spencer (vocals), Jake Atha (guitar, ex-Deteriorot), Paul Nunavath (guitar), James Goetz (drums, Deteriorot, ex-War Curse), and Xander Farrington (bass, Rituaal, ex-Cadaverous) finally unveils Sounds of Malice, its debut album, via Third House Communications.
Quartered & Devoured kicks off with a very direct old-school approach, featuring raw riffs and wild roars that reinforce the obvious brutality of the rhythm section, which pounds away fairly uniformly, offering slightly more shrill passages thanks to the harmonics. The elaborate touch makes the accelerations even more aggressive, making us bang our heads before moving on to the short Sounds of Malice and its frantic kicks that naturally punctuate an abrasive and jerky sound full of devastating blasts designed to hammer our eardrums vigorously. The solos offer an intriguing touch, then Shackled to Existence takes over with a catchy groove, mixing heaviness with fairly simple patterns, letting the leads play on disturbing tones that accentuate the oppression before the break gives us a very short moment of respite to announce the mosh part, then it’s Apocalyptic Waste‘s turn to offer its catchy riffs at varying speeds. The song is quite contrasting, delivering both interesting technical flourishes and very simplified passages with devastating palm mutes, as well as a few dissonant touches before moving on to Fratricide, where the thick rhythm immediately returns thanks to a very dirty sound where aggression reigns supreme, letting the drums lead the various assaults. The track gradually slows down and then gives way to Bask in the Rot, which places its tortured riffs in a very energetic dynamic where waves of violence follow one another but are never the same, revealing a rather interesting sequence that will be interesting to exploit live. However, we move on fairly quickly to Left to Rot, which offers fairly similar sounds, both in terms of unpredictable accelerations and sudden passages, and it is with this last layer of infectious rage that the band ends their album, not without offering us a slightly more developed guitar performance towards the end.
In just under thirty minutes, Redivider shows us that their Death Metal can take many forms, but always remains raw and jerky. Sounds of Malice will be great for fans of Old School tones, but is a little short to fully appreciate its violence.
80/100
