As you may know, Oppressive Descent is a black metal band from Portland, Oregon whose sole member Grond Nefarious has been a member of many other notable bands, as a quick glance at Metal Archives demonstrates. But Oppressive Descent is obviously far more than a side project, with a plethora of releases to its name beginning in 2016. That extensive discography includes five albums, the most recent of which is set for release on March 4th by Inferna Profundus Records.
The name of the new album, Sulfuric Wrath, stands as a big banner proclaiming the nature of the music within. But as you’ll learn through our premiere stream of the entire record on this Bandcamp Friday, it offers much more than corrosive burning rage — though it definitely does offer that as well.
True to its name, the music within Sulfuric Wrath is often caustic. That becomes evident even in the eerie opening moments of the first song, which is hazed with abrasion, yet those opening moments also reveal other contrasting facets of the music — a pairing of guitars that ring like dismal chimes and wail with piercing clarity.
That introductory phase passes into “Grief of Immortals“, where a steady marching beat and a deeply murmuring bass emerge, surrounded by more frantic but no less abrasive shrouds of sound, again pierced by the supernatural wailing and writhing of the lead guitar, but also surmounted by the towering of expansive keys.
However, wrath does ignite in the second song, “Forbidden Lands,” expressed in scalding screams, hammering drums, and feverishly slashing and pulsing riffage. Though sinister and hulking in some respects, the song repeatedly boils over into maelstroms of violent madness and also seethes as if stoking its hate for another firestorm of fury.
By now, it will become clear to listeners, as forecast earlier, that the songwriting on Sulfuric Wrath is multi-faceted, even though many of the facets seem geared toward generating dread, anguish, and pulse-pounding fear. This comes through not only in the emotional content of the music but in its often elaborate layering of sounds, some of which are ruinously harsh and some of which are as bright as lightning.
But though the music is capable of sounding cruel and crazed, or steeped in agony, it also soars to high summits, in ravishing sonic storms that evoke feelings of fearful wonder. All of those sensations are captured by “Chains Rattling Beneath the Floor“, which is both downfallen and glorious.
There, the feverish trill of the guitars channels terrible grief, the keys create grandeur, the voice screams bloody murder, and the dramatic turbulence in the lower reaches seems capable of shaking the earth apart. Through it all, the drumming shifts gears with aplomb, adding to the already striking dynamism of everything else, and the bass-work is a constant fascination.
In the ensuing songs Oppressive Descent continues to interweave these ingredients, creating sonic tapestries of impressive detail that capture ever-changing moods, many of them pitch-black. Even when the music reaches breathtaking heights of splendor (as it often does), it is often the splendor of tragedy, a vibrant yearning that’s unlikely to be answered, or a vision of glory just beyond reach — though the spectacular “Reprisal” (this writer’s favorite song) does sound like… triumph….
We should also underscore that the vocals are always absolutely unhinged. Even when they sound like a person being garroted with barbed wire, instead of someone being burned alive, they seize attention with ruinous intensity. And we should also emphasize that the songs also bring out some highly head-moving riffs, often just when you least expect it.
Intensity… that’s the true hallmark of the album as a whole, through all its morphing sensations and moods. At its most feral and ferocious, and at its most dramatic and even magnificent, Sulfuric Wrath exerts a powerful grip. Pulse-pounding and head-spinning, it’s an amalgam of raw and second-wave black metal traditions that isn’t likely to be soon forgotten.
All songs were written and recorded by Oppressive Descent in 2023. It was mixed and mastered by G.N. and features cover art by Ainuliblis.
Musical Credits:
Grond Nefarious: Strings, Keys, Dictation
Session Battery Detachment: Disdain
Additional Bloodaxe on tracks I and IX: Goatlord
Inferna Profundus will release Sulfuric Wrath in a special colored vinyl edition limited to 50 copies, a black vinyl edition limited to 100 copies, and digitally. For details and to pre-order, use the link below.
https://infernaprofundusrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sulfuric-wrath
https://www.ipr666shop.com/