Deformatory
Inversion Of The Unseen Horizon
Self-Release
Released: 3 September, 2021
Ottawa’s Deformatory have been kicking about the Canadian death metal scene for some time now, and are about to drop their newest record, Inversion Of The Unseen Horizon, on September 3rd.
This is the group’s first new material since their 2018 split with The Blood Of Christ – Bilateral Carnage. It would seem, that since then, the band have parted ways with their former label CDN Records and gone the lone-wolf route.
Remarkably, Deformatory are a duo – although it never comes across as anything but a full band, and one that has been playing together for a considerable amount of time at that. The musicianship is tight and technical, abrasive, fast – and of course brutal. The vocals are deep and guttural, delivered in a by-the-book and cookie cutter manner. Enough to get the job done, but nothing overly unheard of or fresh. A little more variety here would go along way in separating Deformatory from the pack, I’d wager.
Where Deformatory do stand out, is undoubtedly through the string section. Throughout Inversion Of The Unseen Horizon, there are constantly moments of sheer brilliance on the guitar and bass. Great riffs, but more over, intricate and obscure riff-work. Sure, there’s the formulaic stuff that any technical death metal record worth its weight must contain, but there are moments of greatness within, too. Solid grooves. So often, a band will depend solely on their ability to play a thousand notes a minutes, and ignore the groove and musical side of their craft. Tossing aside the melody and in turn creating something that is awe-striking yet boring. That isn’t the case here.
See Also: Necronautical “Slain In The Spirit” Review
On Behold, The Apex Of Decay, the insanity of those guitar almost echoes Gorguts – a disharmonic and oddly timed riff that still manages to fit in perfectly and works. Charlie Leduc‘s guitar playing is next level. His ability to find groove to accompany the technical aspects is something rare but something a select coven of Canadian musicians before him have succeeded with. Luc Lemay of Gorguts comes to mind – as does Rob Milley of Neuraxis, and a man we’ll name in the next paragraph. In short, Leduc is on his way towards a very select group of upper echelon guitarists for company.
The nine-track album is an assault for the masses that reaches all corners of the extreme metal spectrum from straight-up death to old-school black metal, all to encourage a maniacal frenzy, which even includes a guest appearance from Jon Levasseur, the man behind the classic None So Vile era of Cryptopsy, an admired guitar player and influence for Deformatory. If you’re a Canadian death metal band, looking to make a name for yourselves; bringing in Levasseur is a calculated maneuver – the man wrote possibly the greatest death metal record the nation has ever released.
On Impaled Upon The Carrionspire, Levasseur rips a riff that could have so easily been an out-take from those None So Vile sessions, played over a groove that itself feels very, very much like an homage to Phobophile – a little too much so, I might add. There’s no mistaking Levasseur’s part in this track – it screams his name. It is also the best track of the nine that make up Inversion Of The Unseen Horizon. Although, that shouldn’t be taken as a knock against what Deformatory have crafted here.
You can acquire your copy of the new album, Inversion Of The Unseen Horizon, through the band’s bandcamp page.
For Fans Of: Cryptopsy, Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal
Track Listing:
01. Within The Astral Abscess
02. Behold, The Apex Of Decay
03. Engineering The Wvrmhorde
04. Summoning The Cosmic Devourer
05. Masticated By An Infinite Shadow
06. In The Embervoid Where Dead Stars Reign
07. Deciphering The Archetype
08. Impaled Upon The Carrionspire
09. Beyond The Abhorrence
Pros & Cons
- Great guitar work
- Groove
- Jon Levasseur
- Bland vocals
