Review: “Anthrobscene” by Deified

Back in 2015, Deified won the annual Metal 2 The Masses event for Merseyside and took their place, as rightfully earned at Bloodstock Festival with cuts from their debut EP “Lo and Behold“. That experience led to the quintet sharing stages with the likes of Bay Area California Thrash Kings Exodus, Max Cavalera’s Son Ritchie Cavalera’s Incite and Northampton skull crushers Krysthla as their 2015 debut album “Ascension” seeing them once again step up. Things seemed to stall a little bit but 2018 saw EP “Inhuman Manifesto” appeared with Jamie Hughes (Vocals), Matt Pike (Guitar), Alistair Blackhall (Guitar), Tom Simm (Bass) and Jordan-Stanley Jones (Drums) sounding as tight as ever. Well now they’re back and thanks to production, mixing, and mastering courtesy of their very own guitarist Matthew Pike, 2020 marks the dawn of “Anthrobscene“.

Prelude” sets the tone with tribal percussive sounds building into the first track proper “Dark Desires“. Released as a single in December 2019, it’s one that fans will already be familiar with. Menacing downtuned riffage with swirling kit work is punctuated by Jamie Hughes dry unclean vocals which have some American styled accenting to them. A couple of spoken word sections add texture while the guitars gradually build a sense of tension before a frenetic closing. Hughes sounds like he’s taking his voice to the edge, he doesn’t have a bellow but more of a ranting seething spitting screech style with vicious lyrical intent. “Broken Matrix” opens up like a traditional Metalcore track of old before bursting into more Lamb Of God esq grooves and has that surprise “Bleigh!” moment before a bright lead which flows down stream into a heavy weight breakdown section of sheer class. “Enemies Within” takes up a traditional Thrash theme as it lyrically depicts corrupted men of power with creepy spoken word segments between crushing verses. It’s a call to arms of a track which at shows could see the band arrested for inciting riots but in truth is more likely to kick off a sweaty circle pit than anything else.

Adding programming with “Intermission” which could well end up being a tune up and liquid refreshment break in their live set doesn’t really do that much but when “Apotheosis – Rebirth” kicks in, the mosh pit friendly juggernaut of riffs and tornado warning kit work sees the band at their frenetic, energetic finest. A track about civilization disappearing in the blink of an eye, it has Thrash roots but is far more distinctly Deified in sound. Both guitarists bring sinister creepy riffs to this longer cut and it’s intense nature is a piece of brilliance. “Blood Under The Bridge” uses an Trivium esq introduction to get going and has similarly high quality riffs and galloping rhythms throughout and while there are a couple of occasions where Hughes is required to deliver a faster flow of vocal than suits his style, he manages to step up. “An Ode to Armageddon” sees Hughes take a well deserved rest as the band close the record with an epic song that belongs on a film soundtrack. A short and sweet affair at just over three minutes, it takes the title and puts it into the instrumental form. The new chapter for Deified begins in 2020 and it begins with “Anthrobscene” [7.5/10]

Track listing

1. Prelude
2. Dark Desires
3. Broken Matrix
4. Enemies Within
5. Intermission
6. Apotheosis – Rebirth
7. Blood Under The Bridge
8. An Ode to Armageddon

Anthrobscene” by Deified is out 29th May with pre-orders available here

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