From the onset, Greece’s Ectoplasma make it
immediately clear what sort of death metal record you’re getting. The
colourful, yet cryptic artwork, combined with an atmospheric intro and depraved
song titles indicate death metal of the purest origins. “Cavern of Foul
Unbeings” will take you immediately back to the early 1990s, recalling any
number of classic bands. Despite this, the band ignores more obvious homages to
the Floridian and New York scenes, instead opting to take a variety of
influences to create a sickening cacophony.
It should be no surprise that “Cavern of
Foul Unbeings” is often incredibly successful at recreating the cavernous sound
that plenty of death metal utilizes. The opening to “Mortified and Despised” is
a crushing experience, but the band quickly takes a turn for more upbeat riffs
in the verse. Ectoplasma’s ability to change focus several times within each
song helps to retain interest for the lengthy 53-minute runtime of this record.
If you’re starting to feel sick of a doomier section, than something thrashier
will quickly erupt. But then the band can instantly move to a more traditional tremolo-picking
riff. One reason the band excels at so many sounds is their infrequent use of
blastbeats; they certainly come up once in a while on the record, but again, it’s
when you’re not necessarily expecting it, so they become a welcome addition to
the music. Even the risky approach of incorporating samples is executed to
perfection in a couple of instances.
Most of the tracks are pretty similar in
the amount of diversity they offer, so few of them tend to stand out. Often times, it is more
individual sections that are the highlights. “Seized In Cimmerian Darkness”,
for example, has one of the most potent riffs on this album, while “Reanimated
in Trioxin” offers the catchiest growling. Some of the later songs tend to drag, moreso
due to listener fatigue than an actual decline in quality. Things pick up with
the cover of Unleashed’s “The Immortal Ones”, a band that Ectoplasma strongly
resembles at times. All in all, it makes for an exciting finish to an above
average death metal record. While “Cavern of Foul Unbeings” might not be as
classic as some of its influences, it is a worthy contender in today’s death
metal scene!
Highlights
"Seized In Cimmerian Darkness"
"Reanimated in Trioxin"
"The Immortals"
Final Rating
4.3/5 or 86%.
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