DEAD CONGREGATION
Purifying Consecrated Ground
(Konqueror Records)
20:17min

As impressed as I was when I reviewed NUCLEAR WINTER’s 2003 demo "Abomination Virginborn" I am when I listen to "Purifying Consecrated Ground" by DEAD CONGREGATION, which is actually more or less the same band. Thus for reasons beyond my humble knowledge the Greeks changed their name, but not the quality and stylistic direction of their music, they just got better in any aspect! Rooted deeply in early 90s Death Metal DEAD CONGREGATION melt influences from the Swedish, Finnish and American schools of dark, straight and brutal Death Metal and inspirations from bands like DEMIGOD, EDGE OF SANITY, SADISTIC INTENT, IMMOLATION, MORBID ANGEL manifest on this hellish good MCD! Though the Greek horde could, at least in my opinion, try harder to create a few own ideas instead of successfully replicating the glorious sound of the 90s the five songs offered here are definitely highly entertaining material for fans of this type of Death Metal. Sinister growls, detuned guitars, furiously blasted passages as well as morbid slower ones, an unpolished and anachronistic production turn this 20 minutes long assault into a perfect old school Death-worship that should chase away any friends of innovative sounds. The "New Wave Of Old school Death Metal (NWOOSDM)" has another worthy addition and fans of the aforementioned bands should be extremely pleased by this MCD. I am, too, but I begin to dare the day too many of this kind of bands fill the scene and obstruct any ingenuity within the genre. Of course, I am always glad to see up and coming bands inspired by the good ol’ days, but I find myself thinking they could start to explore new musical ideas and apply them to their sound instead of just robbing the grave of a more than a decade old stylistic fundament (a positive example are THE CIRCLE OF ZAPHYAN or INFERNAL LEGION, if you ask me). Old school Death Metal rules eternally, but without fresh musical ideas the genre will again stagnate. Anyway, the MCD will be released on Konqueror, the tape version on Nuclear Winter Records, support this VERY promising act! www.nuclearwinter.cjb.com, www.konqueror-records.com

Stefan Franke

Stefan Franke

Related reviews / interviews:
DEAD CONGREGATION - Sombre Doom (Hacker)
DEAD CONGREGATION - Split (Lem Lycurgus)
DEAD CONGREGATION - Promulgation Of The Fall (Stefan Franke)
DEAD CONGREGATION - Split (Jason Campbell)
DEAD CONGREGATION - Graves Of The Archangels (Hacker )
DEAD CONGREGATION - Interview (Alfonso Perez)
DEAD CONGREGATION - Interview (Jason Campbell)

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