Now this is a crusher. There is something to be said for extreme metal that apes the old school but draws from a less common well of influences. Such is the power of Ascendency whose new album A Manifest Of Imperious Destiny is gloriously twisted blackened death metal sure to keep you up at night and shock listeners with its burning flame of 90s metal magic. There is a real sense of sorcery behind what's being done here and a sorrowful vision guiding the whole thing forward certain to entrance devotees of the European underground.
With a production that sounds wonderfully underground and monochromatic guitar lines supporting gnarled vocals, it's clear that Ascendency are unafraid to wear their influences on their collective sleeve. The martial aspect of the sound (Perhaps best showcased on "Victory - In All It's Ephemeral Glory") adds a nice hint of war metal to the offering, but it's the black metal underpinnings and death metal riffing that really define the album. The senes of old school evil and basement dwelling annihilation is entrancing to really get lost in and speaks ot what the band has been able to create and fascinate us with time and time again.
As regular readers know I'm deeply in love with this brand of old school blackened death metal. It feels evil and it feels ancient. A Manifest Of Imperious Destiny is a blackened death metal album to explore ruined castles too, while barely hinting at any of the dungeon synth tropes that tend to define that weirdly specific subgenre. Ascendency have found their own left hand path and their devotion to basement production, stripped back songwriting and true old school vibes is a delight to really lean into and start to come to terms with.
Pre-order the album!
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