PERSECUTORY are a Black / Death Metal band of Turkish origin, “The Glorious Persecution” represents their newest EP release, issued through Godz Ov War Productions. Totaling three tracks at slightly over 20 minutes in length, PERSECUTORY deliver a combination of speed, melodicism and dynamics in this follow-up to 2022’s “Summoning The Lawless Legions.” ‘Infernal Gateways To Watchers’ opens the EP, a nearly seven minute exhibition of churning rhythm guitar, machine-gun drumming and dazzling melodicism. Drummer Kyle puts on a clinic for double-bass foot work, while guitarist Infectious Torment crafts a narrative of storming power chord sequences, mixed with beautiful single-note tremolo melodies, that harken back to the early-to-mid 1990s Black Metal scene. Simple tricks like transposing the lead melodies up and down by a half-tone create haunting tension and serve as a point of focus for the entire track. ‘Ecstatic Demonlords’ dials things down in terms of speed, opting instead to ride a rhythm of mid-tempo blast beats for the early part of the song. The riffs once again alternate between grinding power chord sequences and flowing melodic passages. There is an emphasis on dissonance during some of the slower sequences of the song, adding depth of character to the track. ‘The Glorious Persecution’ opens with a main lead melody that invokes the sensation of 1994-era MAYHEM. Riff after riff compounds and snowballs the track into a blackened Death Metal fury, with razor cuts of melodicism and hammer strikes of chordal brutalism. The production on “The Glorious Persecution” is very modern and very clean, with powerful and dynamic full-range drums, crisp guitar production and a very even mix across all the instrumentation. Where most modern blackened Death Metal kind of just sounds like regular Death Metal with non-guttural vocals, PERSECUTORY excel in instrumentation, composition and attention to sonic detail that simply buries most of their contemporaries. Fans of BELPHEGOR, SARINVOMIT, BEHEMOTH and MARDUK should certainly take note of “The Glorious Persecution”, as its speed, fury and approach places it amongst one of the more elite blackened Death Metal recordings of 2024. For more information on PERSECUTORY, check out www.facebook.com/persecutory666. For additional information on Godz Ov War Productions, check out www.facebook.com/godzovwarproductions.