Heaving Earth - Denouncing the Holy Throne

By Atanamar Sunyata. Myriad are the mannerisms that make death metal. Many of the methods employed by Heaving Earth are readily apparent, their roots reaching straight back to Immolation and Nile and

By Atanamar Sunyata.

Cover art by Marco Hasmann

Myriad are the mannerisms that make death metal. Many of the methods employed by Heaving Earth are readily apparent, their roots reaching straight back to Immolation and Nile and Ulcerate and more Immolation. While it’s good fun to trace the lineage of a band’s sound, it’s important to remember that synthesizing the infernal methods into a quality recording is no mean feat. Denouncing the Holy Throne is a masterful articulation of morbid chaos; keep your talk of clones at home.

These tracks unravel repeated paradox. Engaging riffs undulate wildly and also snap with staccato precision. Heaving Earth opt for a discrete separation of the stereo field, with distinctive dual-guitar work writhing spasmodically in each ear. At times extraordinary, the leads on Denouncing the Holy Throne magnify its majestic mien and indicate an attention to twisted detail. The percussion serves the album's divergent oeuvre well, with finesse and speed represented in equal measure. Memorable vocal patterns compliment the carefully crafted rhythmic intensity.

Denouncing the Holy Throne is nothing less than wall to wall riffs, crackling with electrostatic discharge. You'll find a strange burst of clean guitars nestled deep in the album's folds, sounding like early Pelican-made-murderous. While brief, the passage is indicative of a deep well of creativity; I hope we'll see more of this obtuse intricacy from the band in the future.

You’d think a person would tire of death in life, but Heaving Earth prove that to be untrue; I’m quite addicted to Denouncing the Holy Throne. I expect this beast to be in my playlist for the rest of the long cold darkness.