“My unquenchable thirst.”
Death metal subgenres are having a real moment. As sectors of the internet argue about whether “dissonant” should be its own genre label, we’re also seeing the lines blur between trash, black, brutal, grind, prog, core, “caveman”, and the avant-garde. Celestial Sanctuary play at none of these games; the UK band simply makes death metal with no special fusions, but this doesn’t mean they don’t bring the carnage. They’ve supported other ‘traditional’ acts like Undeath and Frozen Soul, whose success demonstrates the demand for no-frills death. Their first record Soul Diminished got a redux version earlier this year, featuring incredible live takes of the key tracks, upstaging even the remixed versions on the same release.
Celestial Sanctuary’s defining characteristic has been their grooves, something they do on most of their tracks. Their straightforward beats lay down a slow, bouncing “power-stride” tempo. Riffs have a traditional feel to them, always resolving tidily and keeping you headbanging. The tempo gives the loose vocals a lot of space, Thomas Cronin’s harsh invocations having a decent range between the deep and raspy.
Of course a death metal band promises that their new album is “a modern Death Metal record for fans of the EXTREME!!!”, but Insatiable Thirst for Torment really delivers by taking Celestial Sanctuary’s songwriting to exiting new places. Instrumental passages are more extensive, riffs are more topsy-turvy, and vocals are more unhinged. Tracks are now unchained from verse-chorus structures in the way twisted death metal should be, and they have also become longer. “Trapped Within The Rank Membrane” (which actually appeared as a live take on Soul Diminished Redux) is narrowly the longest thanks to a swaggering finale, and is no less catchy in its double-kick chorus. Lead single “Biomineralization (Cell Death)” has many tempo switches and squealy riffs, similarly boasting a classic Celestial Sanctuary chorus, now weaved into a more wild structure that keeps you guessing.
The short tracks have it too – “Glutted with Chunder” is properly twisty turny, bordering on prog. “Meandering Stream of Foul Fluid” opens and closes with atmospheric melodies which enjoy mostly slower tempos, the only boomy and cavernous moment on an otherwise close and raw record. “Gutted with a Blunt Blade” is the album’s speedy closer, hiding the record’s best riff at the 1:30 mark: a complex riff that plays out four times with subtle changes. For a record that indulges in long songs that end dramatically, “Gutted with a Blunt Blade”’s sudden ending goes even harder.
The record’s mix is full-fidelity – hefty guitars, rich but not over-engineered vocals, crisp drums; even the snare is good. The production is deliberately unassuming, simply presenting the songs more or less how they’d sound in the room without any special ideas. It would be wrong not to mention the fantastic artwork by James Bousema, playing into the record’s lyrical themes of science (or primordial sludge) fiction. Not a track goes by without stomach churning references to biological horror. The most satisfying lyric comes at the end of “The Lurid Glow of a Dead, Burning Body”: it’s literally just the band’s name, bellowed twice.
Insatiable Thirst for Torment is a clear step up for Celestial Sanctuary. It’s a consistently strong album that keeps their distinct style is intact whilst they push the envelope in other ways. They still have some more room to grow in the future, to thoroughly distinguish themselves from the genre’s forebears.
8.5/10
Insatiable Thirst for Torment releases this Friday 25th August via Church Road Records, and can be pre-ordered here (UK/EU/US).