After the dark debut Tenebrous Oblations from 2023, Kansas U.S.A. based act Thaumaturgy returns with their sophomore album Pestilential Hymns released through Memento Mori on CD. I personally found the first album a bit dense in sound, let’s see if the production has gotten better.
For this album KT brought the help from TG and DS, unfortunately not much can be found about the members and their role within the band. What can be found is the name of the artist who made the cover art, that being Daniel Hermosilla (Nox Fragor Art).
After the first spin it became clear the band has changed their style. The first album was more doom metal with a sharp twist, this album immediately shows its teeth and makes clear they have changed direction. This is old school death with a raw edge, it reminds me of Grave Miasma and a little bit like Morbid Angel.
The production is a lot better, everything can be heard clearly yet it remains very raw. This suits their music very well. The vocals are ranging from deep grunts to a sort of scream, the guitars are greatly defined and the bass can be heard well in the mix. The only thing I can complain about is the drums, the cymbals sound fake. As the roles of the bandmembers is not known (for now at least), I suspect the use of a drumcomputer. This is fine, as long as it sounds great, but during the blastbeat passages on the hi-hats it starts to sound bad, it lacks the organic feel of a real cymbal.
Every track sounds as their own, yet keeping the newly chosen style of the band. The riffs are diverse, the building and releasing of tension does a great job on this album. It feels like I’m being trapped in an old cellar, and all hell breaks loose around me. Be not mistaken, this is not an easy soundscape to get into. But give it a few spins and let yourself get dragged away in these eight tracks of hell.
78/100