Once again, I find myself too preoccupied to review every album that I come across. Drawn and Quartered is a terrific band and "Feeding Hell's Furnace" is an awesome album, but I haven't found the time to review it, so I "borrowed" one from my fellow webzine enthusiast at Lacerated Metal Zine. Enjoy!
Over the last few years, I've found myself growing fonder and fonder of Nuclear Winter Records, and they once again sharpen their blades for the release of a crushing excursion. Firstly I must say that Drawn and Quartered are new to me, despite bearing such a fragmenting and aural brand of death metal that I love, and before I actually heard the album I had my fair share of apprehension building inside of me, of fear that the band would prove to be yet another retro, modern death metal group. And I really couldn't be bothered reading a few reviews before I got my hands on the album to get some information of what they sounded like. In the end, it was not the anxiety, but the miasmal fear contemplating my every breath that overwhelmed me took me ideep into the courpulent abyss, without refining the death metal's boundaries by even a stretch.
For people who are always ardent about new Incantation gimmicks popping up, "Feeding Hell's Furnace" is a coherent and malevolenty driven, dark and shadowing incursion of monotonous bestiality. Bands that imitate infamous acts of the 90's like Immolation, Incantation or early Morbid Angel eschew new, innovative tactics, even it comes in minor packages and they reamin obstinate, keeping eternally loyal to the prmitive aesthetics that were created alongside the genre's birth, left raw and unmolested. I'm not going to deny that Drawn and Quartered fabricate riffs built upon the same texture that's been used over and over again, with maybe a hint of deviation, but I'll have to admit that they worship Incantation well, and we've already come across scores og gimmicks, so there's no point in scoffing at the trend.
Remember the slight deviation I referred to? Well, thath's actually a handier implement than many think. "Feeding Hell's Furnace" principally harries with its ghastly, immolating cluster of tremolos - bestial incursions at a rather speedy gait, even though the tension of the velocity ceases abruptly at times to fluctuate into an enthralling, monstrous death/doom gulp, but the band's melodious tendencies also kick in often as not, scathing twisted melodies that reach deep inside your subconscious. It's a tremulous journey, there's no denying that, but queerly the band raises the dynamics to a vigorous pace and sometimes even cleanses the impure, dissonant gobs of filth to retain a cleaner atmosphere to boats the energy of the dexterous jumps and kicks, lashing in and forth dynamically. the vocals always remain true to the dispersed and ill-natured blasphemy produced by the dissonant clouds moving about, a wallowing shadow of megalithic inner-fire.
The production is twisted and glorified with profane impiety, like thick barge or fog clothing, slowly suffocating, but I still found it to be a tinge clearer than most acts which excel in the same areas of death, particularly Father Befouled as they're a very laud-deserving act for their latter victories, but the subtle melodiousness of its nature does not leave the album devoid of its harrowing waves of blasphemy, but in fact aggravates the tense, asphyxiating atmosphere and narrows it nearer. I can gladly add Drawn and Quartered to the stockpile of crushing exhausters, and you may as well have some appreciation of the hooking horror of the impiety filled atmosphere the band can cohere so easily. Feel its shrewd exhalation of evil.
(Oh, and I'll grant some extra points for the deftly chosen band name. "Hung, Drawn and Quartered" is an OSDM classic)
Be sure to check out and like Drawn and Quartered on Facebook!
Highlights
"Feeding Hell's Furnace"
"Mutilated Offerings"
"No Absolution"
Final Rating - 87%
Originally written for Lacerated Metal Zine.