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Album Reviews : Earth Rot – Renascentia

By on November 7, 2017

Renascentia is the second full length from Perth filth merchants Earth Rot. The album was released way back in March this year, but with the band getting ready to tour Japan with Fleshgod Apocalypse I thought it was as good a time as any to dive deep into the album and put pen to paper. I’ve followed the band since their inception and you’ll struggle to find a harder working act in Australia.

But beyond their unquenchable thirst for touring and releasing new material, perhaps the most impressive thing about Earth Rot has been the way that they have ‘owned’ their sound from day one – the juxtaposition of blast beat laden chaos, evil, mid-paced HM-2 chugging, and eerie leads creates an easily identifiable sound. Their hallmarks are again present on Renascentia. Terraform commences proceedings with all guns blazing. The duel guitar attack of Waterhouse and  Dickie stands out from the get-go. The pairing of low rhythms with a higher melodic lead is another calling card of the Earth Rot sound and is used extensively on this track. The drumming has palpable aggression and the vocals from Bridgeman are venomous and ugly.

The Ancient Fire covers a lot of ground in less than 4 minutes – On one hand, it’s evil, ominous and spiteful, but at the same time there is a groove to most of the riffs and it contains a really good solo section which adds a lot to the song.  Its one of my personal highlights on what is a  strong and consistent release.

Waves of the Blackest Mire was released with a video clip ahead of the album’s release earlier this year. 2:43 seems short on paper, but  I enjoy the fact the song is concise and focussed.  Riffs aplenty and a certified banger, it represents the album well.

Anachronous Oath and Panoptic Terror see the band continue to display a knack for writing quality and cohesive tracks. Anachronous Oath has a catchy groove at the front end and an evil dirge at the back.  Panoptic Terror is a pretty straightforward track which has a great mix of groove and feels thanks to some impressive variation behind the kit.

Up next is The Bones That Lay Beneath The Earth, which stands out for being a great piece of music, albeit something very different from everything else on the disk. Clean guitars, clean vocals, and a really epic Saxophone solo (played by Jørgen Munkeby – Shining) marks this tracks as a clear outlier amongst the grimy HM-2 landscape.  In the wash-up, The Bones That Lay Beneath The Earth is essentially a really epic introduction to Bestial Shadow Forest, which is one of the more progressive and varied tracks on the album. I really like the ultra heavy slow section in the middle of this track. Funeral Pyre is another strong piece of music. It’s  dark and heavy, with some really nice melodic lines on the guitars. The classical guitar lead which flows into the solo is perhaps one of the most memorable sections of the entire release.

Again, the drumming really adds to the vibe of the track – flicking between a range of feels and moods to create plenty of different vibes throughout. Condemned to the Grave is quite upbeat compared to the rest of the release. It’s that classic ‘death ‘n roll’ sort of thing going on and whilst it’s far from being filler,  to my ears it doesn’t sit very comfortably in amongst the rest of the album. Unfurled, The Cover of Darkness is a really strong track, a great choice to close the album. It is arguably my favourite on the release thanks in the most part to a really epic last couple of minutes where the guitars create a dark, yet uplifting tapestry of sound.

Renascentia is a very strong album, and clearly the most accomplished release of Earth Rot’s career to date. On the back of such quality work, it’s unsurprising that the band have toured the EU with Gorgoroth, toured Australia with Fleshgod Apocalypse, and are set to tour Japan with Fleshgod Apocalypse and Psycroptic in November. It’s undoubtedly one of the strongest death metal albums released by an Australian band in 2017 and is more than worthy of your time.

Band: Earth Rot
Album: Renascentia
Year: 2017
Genre: Death Metal
Label:  Independent
Origin: Australia

 

About

Chris is a long time metal enthusiast and advocate for Australian heavy music scene. Chris grew up in Perth, Western Australia and is a past member of modern melodeath act Let's Kill Uncle. Currently residing in London, UK.