Denouncement Pyre     

Almighty Arcanum

Hells Headbangers 2013

Australia's Denouncement Pyre are already making a name for themselves on the strength of their sophomore full length which sees them ravaging the underground with blasting black metal that blurs the line between resolute darkness and uncontrolled blasphemy.  An Extension Of The Void explodes after the soothing intro.  The is nothing short of audio-violence.  Spasms of speed drop into a swaying groove that unites death and black metal in a totalitarian march that repeats for the entire second half of the song.  Only after it drifts into oblivion does the explosive wave of riffs from the title-track rush in.  There are hints of early Morbid Angel flourishing within the confines of the track.  A meaty midtempo riff breathes life into the song before the pulse quickens with a sawing, hypnotic riff.  The guitars once again explode and searing solos rip through the composition's structure.  At times I am reminded of Angelcorpse with the extremity on display here.  He Who Conquers All is a slow builder, with disharmonic angles in the music that flow smoothly into stomping, upward arcs.  A black metal setup erupts into lightning quick riffs that call to mind Marduk or early Dark Funeral.  The gang vocal calls that close out the track are really good but the more I listen to the track in its entirety I am reminded of similarities to bands like Sacrementum and Vinterland, etc.  The album as a whole has a definite mid 90s, Swedish feel to it.  The melodic initial passage of Circle of Serpents certainly heightens that feeling in my ears.  However the track drops into a darker, more traditional black metal riff segment that slashes your throat with its speed.  Denouncement Pyre's second album is a solid album of blackened death that pulls together a myriad of older black metal traditions and sews them together in a unified alloy of razor-sharp desecration and ferocity.  Stating that, this is still nothing more than a better than average album of blackened death.  It is enjoyable for what it is and only separates itself from its peers based on the strong songwriting dynamics and tight execution.