Deep Desolation     

Rites of Blasphemy

Darkzone Productions 2012

Poland's lords of doom-tinged black metal return from the void to lay waste to the earth with their new album, Rites Of Blasphemy.  Midtempo grooves and atmopsheric synth accents paint the opening passages of Between The Tits Of A Witch.  Gothic doomy riffs that are reminiscent of Paradise Lost's Shades of God arise and you can definitely hear echoes of Gregor Mackintosh's style in Markiz's soloing.  Strange psychedelic textures surface as the song flows into mind expanding territories during its conclusion.  On Searching For Yesterday trilling guitar notes are a prelude to fuzzed bass and midtempo riffs that at times remind me of Samael or a synthless Gehenna.  The track finishes with a swift upchurn in speed and then a smooth, classy guitar solo.  Doomy notes drip from the speakers as the title-track crawls along like a nebulous fog.  The whole song exudes an atmosphere of evilness even as gothic doom accents crest across monolithic chords reverberating from the guitars. Taken the doom influence even further, Mroczny Hymn sounds like the bastard child of Paradise Lost's Shades of God and Samael's Pentagram.  Gothic tinged riffs circulate around throbbing black metal passages.  The pace slows to a creeping plod that whispers with dread and the guitars filter in an undercurrent of near melodies.  However at the 8 minute mark there is a pronounced set up to a speedy blast of demonic hatred.  The highlight for me on the album is I Became Your God with its pounding, demonic groove and psychedelic components that achieve depressive, melancholic lows.  Deep Desolation continues to grow with each passing release they do.  On their sophomore effort they are in the midst of developing a distinctive personality that is all their own. It contains sorrowful hints that permeate their style of doom-laden black metal and offers a dark, and moody excursion within the underground of heretical blasphemy.