The Plague - Erosion Of Gods

2023-12-20 08:00:30

Death metal sawmills of the old, rancid school are no longer just found in the frosty far north. At the other end of the world, people are also indulging in rot. The Plague from Sydney clearly have a soft spot for the Scandinavian genre primordial soup, accompanied by the brute force from Great Britain and the Benelux countries. Their debut “Within Death” was already a smash hit two years ago and is now receiving a no less angry, broken successor. „Erosion Of Gods“ destroys everything that stands in its way.

Songs like “Hacked And Butchered” make it clear where the Brachialo journey is heading. The tempo is high, the vocals throaty and furious, while the instrumental section dismantles everything in its path with increasing enthusiasm, leaving no time for a breather. “Impulsive Convulsions” goes even further and takes just 130 seconds to leave no stone unturned. The Australians even hint at a brief delay in tempo at times, but any groove approaches quickly give way to emphatically distorted grinding mills.

Although, every now and then things actually go more leisurely when “Rotten, Dried, And Mummified” barely comes out of the quark. However, it doesn’t last long with appropriate Death Doom approaches, because the dulcimer is increasingly gaining the upper hand. The final title song “Erosion Of Gods” doesn’t just leave it at the slow pace either, but with its sawing passages it provides an interesting counterpoint to the otherwise high tempo. Slowly but surely The Plague are taking your breath away. To loosen things up, “Roadside Burial” even dares to use a bit of death grind, while “Incinerated” incorporates just the right amount of melodicism into the short solo.

With additional brute force, a particularly poisonous frontman and astonishing precision in the high-speed range, The Plague unpack a dark and destructive second album that is already tough due to its high speed alone. “Erosion Of Gods” is unrelenting, painful, mangy and harsh, but at the same time has a knack for edgy HM2 riffs and the old school. A few doomy to groovy inserts also hint at a golden future. The Australians are not reinventing the deadly wheel, but are making a gripping contribution to its continued dominance.

Rating: 8/10

Available from: October 27, 2023
Available via: Brilliant Emperor Records

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ThePlagueAustralia