(Andy Synn sets out to see just how “great” the new album from Renunciation, out now, actually is)
Look, if you’d asked me before now I would have sworn blind that I reviewed Autelmorte, the second album from Renunciation, back in 2022.
But, as it turns out, I only managed to mention them as part of my regular end of year round-up (where it seems a couple of you also discovered them).
Which makes it doubly fortunate that I randomly stumbled across their third album, Make Babylon Great Again, towards the end of last week, as not only do I get to review it but I also get a chance to properly introduce you all to their shamelessly infectious amalgam of blast-driven, hyper-melodic Black Metal and fret-melting, pulse-pounding Tech Death.
Now, to be clear, attempts to marry these two somewhat disparate (on the surface, at least) genres have been made before, with the likes of Enfold Darkness, the NCS-approved Vale of Pnath, and (obviously) Ne Obliviscaris making a pretty decent stab at it over the years (even if I’ve never been as high on the latter group as it seems like most people are).
But there’s still a sense, understandably so, that the often (though not always) raw and primal impulses of Black Metal as a genre simply won’t mix well – if at all – with the mechanised precision and obsessive perfectionism of Tech Death, resulting in a cocktail of influences that’s more “oil and water” than a seamless blend of ingredients.
Not that you’d know it during light-speed opener “Apex of Frustration”, whose killer combination of razor-sharp melodic riffage, thrillingly technical lead guitar (and bass) work, and scorching screams – all backed up by a veritable barrage of blastbeats and flying footwork – sits somewhere between the likes of Abigail Williams and Lightning Swords of Death on the one hand and Stortregn and Dååth on the other.
Interestingly enough, from where I’m sitting right now anyway, as the album progresses – through the epic, stop-start extremity of “Make Babylon Great Again” and the twisting, twitchy “The Openers of Heavenly Gates” – you get the sense that, stylistically speaking, the band are shifting their focus more towards the slightly proggier end of the Tech Death spectrum (the strangled, semi-melodic vocals hooks and sombre, moody saxophone of the title track in particular are a bold, and brilliant, choice) with the more “blackened” elements (notably the ultra-catchy, blast-driven chorus of “…Heavenly Gates”) playing more of a supporting (but no less vital) role.
Sure, there’s the occasional stylistic choice which – to my ears at least – doesn’t fully vibe with the sound they’re trying to cultivate (the main riff of “Shive Invictus”, for example, is a little too Slipknot for its own good, while the unnecessary techno beats in the otherwise excellent “Mandaean Principle” are a distinctly odd fit), but when Renunciation find the right balance between their two sides (“Idols and Ideals” is exactly five minutes of fluid, fleet-fingered fretwork and blindingly intense drumming which errs more towards the Tech side of things, while still retaining just the right amount of viciously blackened bite) you can absolutely feel the potential for them to one day be great again… even if they’re not quite all the way there just yet.