Dies Holocaustum are a Brutal Old-school Death Metal band from Bristol, UK dropped into my inbox and we here at rifftastic enjoy our OSDM!
THIS RECORD IS MENTAL, from a pleasant intro to absolute ear belting and visceral raw carnage erupts with blasts gritty vocals and shredding guitar work sounding like they are trying to make audio waves kill the listener.... certain bands can make me feel like this before for example the first time i heard Mayhem when i was a teenager, so death metal Mayhem?? Either Way it's a very hard hitting and shredding sound and it's definitely marmite, i happen to love marmite(guess i'm a sociopath then) or just love getting my brain annihilated.
It's not all shred and ear abuse there is incredibly and surprisingly melodic sections and guitarwork/solos that are woven into the audio assault that lift this band up a notch which gives the songs a edge of differentiation or depth and gives the listener those breaks before back into hell to be torn asunder, The musicianship in this band is insane each member meticulosity contributing with no over saturation of any instrument .
Let's talk production now i don't care if things are overly produced or underproduced it's about the desired sound and the message that comes across as a artist and how they weave their music etc there is moments i wish this record was a bit better produced with the drums and guitars they need lifting up they sit in the background too much imo but at the same time it does give you an idea of how they translate to a live environment which i think is the point... saying that my ears might perforate if this was more intense and loud.
standout tracks are....all of them, seriously... they flow masterfully well and sound different from each other but carry the same ethos and intensity and each song has some epic moments be it solos, riffs, vocals, bass or drum work giving a nod to their influences but 1000% doing their own spin on the old school sound which as you can imagine is no easy feat by any measure due to the heavy weights still going in the sub-genre,
Overview: Visceral and deep as the ocean, Dies Holocaustum bring the brutal intensity back to OSDM while flying their own flag high.
9/10 RIFFS