01. Invocatio
02. Perventio
03. Waiting to be Free
04. I, the Sacrificed
05. On the Far Side of Knowledge
06. Destroyed Human Mind
07. Blood Oath
08. Cornerstone of Insanity
09. Disseminated Death
10. The Unseen
11. Kaaos on Kanssamme (Chaos is with Us)
Comment:
3rd album by one of the oldest and most respected finnish Death Metal bands. Heavy, dark and punishing Death Metal returning to their debut album glorydays. For lovers of BOLT THROWER, DEMIGOD, INCANTATION, ABHORRENCE...
No arguments that Finland’s Purtenance put out one of the finest death metal albums in the 90’s, Member of Immortal Damnation. To argue would be stupid. A few years ago the band put the pieces back together and …to Spread the Flame of the Ancients is their third release, & second full length since the reformation. I really enjoyed Awaken the Slumber, but felt some of the songs ended too abruptly and this album improves upon that aspect but also furthers their song writing.
The first interesting thing I noticed about the album is the great album cover artwork. At first I actually thought it was a cover for some Hooded Menace album. The booklet is layed out nicely with lyrics too. The song “Preventio” features some very nifty guitar soloing and the production of the guitars retains the bands trademark sound, but taking into further, heavier and denser territory. I love how the song begins with a blast beat, and then hits that groove and the guitar tone is like a razor wire lopping your head clean off your pathetic shoulders. Killer old school guitar melodies at the 1 minute mark that literally took me back, like over 2 decades, before erupting into the furious blast, then back to the killer old school groove.
“Waiting to Be Free”, features some stunning doom/death metal moments not too far removed from Asphyx and even Hooded Menace. Doomy, depressing and most of all heavy as a mother effer. Vocals are brutally deep, understandable and pained groans to varying degrees on this track. Close to the 2 minute mark we are greeted with a slower funeral dirge moment that then picks up into a galloping rhythm. This part is the perfect part to hold up your horns and realize how amazing this part is, in its old school brutality. “Kaaos on Kanssamme” (Chaos Is with Us) is the perfect album ender. Fast, slow and heavy. The 1 minute mark has a killer part and the guitar part for some reason reminds me of Sarcofago’s tune “Christ’s Death”. The 2.40 part has more of the killer doom death beat and this part slays. This beat eventually trails off and the album ends. 11 songs in 46 minutes.
Purtenance’s …to Spread the Flame of the Ancients is one of the heaviest albums for 2015 and the song writing is stronger than ever. This is true and brutal death metal. No tomfoolery, just plain ass kicking death metal from start to finish. Killer!!!
Parece ser que los Finlandeses han cogido la directa y no paran quietos ni un minuto, tras la sequía compositiva que duró 20 años y tras reformar la banda en 2012 con lo que parece ser una sólida nueva formación, (he de añadir que de la cual solo quedan dos miembros originales), aún no han transcurrido 2 años de la salida de su anterior larga duración “Awaken From Slumber” y ya tienen listo un nuevo trabajo. Hoy mismo sale a la luz el 3º trabajo de PURTENANCE titulado “…to Spread the Flame of Ancients”, (curioso título por cierto).
En este nuevo trabajo las fuerzas se han duplicado, tras una producción bastante cristalina se esconde un burrada de disco, si algo destaca en este trabajo es lo burro y cafre que es, tenemos entre manos un disco muy potente, que derrocha fuerza. La voz de Ville por ejemplo, (que quizás esté un pelín alta de volumen en la mezcla todo hay que decirlo), es brutal, hace un trabajo vocal devastador, esas cuerdas vocales parecen cartuchos de dinamita, son como un bulldozer de 50 toneladas arrastrando tierra, o las baterías de Harri Salo, parece que el tiempo no pasa por sus gemelos, es bestia como él solo, tan técnico y brutal como el primer día.
Aunque muy a mi pesar, de lo que para mi gusto flaquea “…to Spread the Flame of Ancients” es en melodías, se echan en falta las típicas melodías PURTENANCE, pero claro, es fácil mirar al pasado y sentir añoranza por “Member of Immortal Damnation”, o que intenten que la sintamos (la añoranza digo), ese disco marcó un antes y un después en la carrera de esta banda y es un error comparar dicho trabajo con lo que viene después.
Cierto es que “…to Spread the Flame of Ancients” guarda patrones y texturas cercanas al emblemático trabajo del ‘92, la vieja escuela de Death Metal finlandesa está muy presente, aunque a la vez, en este trabajo, se añaden otras formas de hacer canciones, otras estructuras con otros portes, que para nada disgustan, no confundamos. Comparativas aparte, las opiniones de cada cual son personales, está claro.
El arte de la portada, esta vez, es el blanco y negro y con el logo y el título del álbum en rojo, me gusta, es una ilustración típica de invocaciones o rituales, que guarda cierto aire de cómic, pero un cómic macabro eso sí, con sus mensajes ocultos y detalles que invitan a mirar el arte varias veces para ir descubriendo cada pormenor, me falta tiempo para observarla en el vinilo ya.
Me quedo con canciones como el adelanto presentado por Xtreem Music, sello que se hace cargo de la edición de este trabajo por cierto, (que si no digo nada me canean (ha ha ha)), la canción en concreto se llama “Invocatio”, aunque no es la canción que más dice del disco, sí es, quizás, la más próxima a su pasado compositivo. La segunda canción que más me ha llamado la atención ha sido “Kaaos on Kanssamme (Chaos is with Us)”, que cierra el trabajo por cierto, esta canción guarda un halo de misterio que me ha gustado. Otras canciones destacables, para mí, son: “Waiting to be Free”, “I, the Sacrificed”, “Destroyed Human Mind”, “Blood Oath” o “Disseminated Death”.
11 canciones de infarto, llenas de flemas, putrefacción y ocultismo, que lo disfrutéis.
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