Orthostat – Monolith Of Time – Album Review
A death metal juggernaut of jackhammer riffs and doom-esque squalor.....
Young Brazilian death lords Orthostat deal in the kind of diabolical death metal delivered by Incantation and their ilk and their debut album, Monolith Of Time, is a death metal juggernaut of jackhammer riffs and doom-esque squalor set to a sombre backdrop of an eternity spent in Satan’s darkest corners of hellish despair. Sounds nice, right!
To say that they’re in the same league as the mighty Incantation would be foolish of course (precious few can compare to one of death metal’s finest ever bands) but Orthostat often achieve the almost impossible feat of sounding insanely fast and painfully slow all within the same passage of music! No easy task, but this terrifying trio have the necessary skills to not only pay the bills but to blast beat their way through the fast bits and revel in the slovenly anguish of their ‘doomier’ moments; moments which build tension and add an extra layer of menace to the whole album.
It’s advisable to duck and cover when Orthostat truly let fly – particularly on the heavy as all hell “Incitatus” which utilises pummelling staccato riffing and black metal-esque tremolo picking to truly go for the throat – and there’s a strong indication that this is a band who can rise quickly through the death metal ranks and make a name for themselves.
At this stage, Monolith Of Time can be considered a pleasing indication of things to come…..which is certainly not a bad place to start! 6/10
Orthostat’s Monolith Of Time was released on January 4th 2019. Nip over to bandcamp and have a listen.
Leave a comment