14th November 2021

Review: “Reanimated” by Consecration

Sometimes unfinished business lingers at the back of the mind, a source of frustration that is marked on a list as something to resolve on a rainy day which never comes. For Consecration, the arrival of guitarist Andy Matthews who joined the ranks of the coven in early 2019 served a the prime opportunity revisit a trio of older cuts scattered to the four winds and seemingly left to rot. Perhaps due to the lack of opportunity to play any shows and the need to bed Matthews in before diving head long into recording a new full length album, getting his fingers dirty with some older material seemed too good an opportunity to turn down…

…before anyone simply writes off “Reanimated” as a stop gap release to oppease long time fans that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, the naysayers should put a pin in that negativity until they’ve actually listened to the EP. Three cuts recorded live in the studio that collectively surpass the 20 minute mark offers plenty to sink your teeth into with all those raw, menacing, insidious and down right sinister atmospherics captured like lightening in a bottle. ‘Cast Down For The Burning MMXXI’ and ‘Gut The Priest MMXXI’ are reworked versions of tracks that appeared on the band’s 2010 debut EP “Gut The Priest” and while some fans may roll their eyes at new versions of older material, these are essential listening as live renditions that see the changes that have been made to them in a decade of incendiary performances. Daniel Bollans vocals are just as bowel clenchingly low as they have always been as he paints pictures of sombre death, bleak doom and pained regret. While the mix may not be as perfect as it could be, that’s part of the charm of the record, that aforementioned raw quality giving “Reanimated” the feel of a tape traded demo. ‘Domain Of Despair’ is a new interpretation of an previously unreleased 2011 demo that had never seen the light of day until now, another crushing, foreboding tale of horror that has been resurrected from the grave and makes for a bitter end to this holy trinity of monolithic beasts [7/10]

Track listing