Construct of Lethe – A Kindness Dealt In Venom
Release Date: 21st June 2024
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Technical Death Metal.
FFO: An Abstract Illusion, Ulcerate, Suffocation, Morbid Angel.
Review By: Andy Spoon
Construct of Lethe’s upcoming LP has already been highly-lauded as one of the better albums of 2024 in its genre. To test that, we’re going to dive into what makes this album such a ballbuster of a record by examining how some of the elements that are put together are creating such a buzz. It’s not just the tracks you lay down, but how you do it, how you execute the entirety of the artistic work, something that A Kindness Dealt In Venom really shows its expertise in. Full of a blend of instrumental tracks, spoken poetry, and brilliant death metal vocals on others, Construct of Lethe is really showing their mastery of the art form on A Kindness Dealt in Venom is probably one of the best albums of the year by a mile. The album is scheduled to be released on June 21st on Transcending Obscurity Records.
I’ve decided not to get into the subject matter of the album, as I really believe it’s something that needs to be explored on its own. However, I will say that knowing the meaning behind the lyrical and metaphysical themes, the album comes alive for other reasons, and that’s all I’m going to say unless you want to dive into that for yourself, as I’m undoubtedly biased by subject matter like that. Instead, I’m going to really focus on the presentation of the album, the musical development, and the production and engineering of this full length record.
One of my favorite elements on this album is the absolutely incredible vocal attack. The throaty and extremely-sharp-cutting enunciation, diction, and distortion all combine to get the nastiest-sounding vocal section I’ve heard almost all year, save for a couple other contenders. I think that there’s not going to be many folks who can follow this performance up in the death metal genre. There’s obviously a lot of Morbid Angel comparisons, which might sound like a broken record from people like myself. Honestly, when something really works, lean into it. That style of vocals really lends itself to making some of the best death metal vocal sections out there, as it tends to add the right dimensional layer to the heaviness of the music without just sounding like belching or gurgling into a microphone.
The musicality of the album is something that is especially-good. I was extremely pleased to hear just how many short, but sweet breakdowns in the music for a well-orchestrated lull are peppered into the album. They aren’t cheesy dungeon-y sound effect-filled samples. It’s an effort to add deeper dimension to the tracks by giving them rises and falls, emphatic highs that follow moody lows. These doomy-dynamic swings help to really make the album something that is just as much about music as it is brutality, something that we don’t always get to enjoy as metal listeners in the extreme genres.
I really think that the bass guitar and bass sections are extremely well-executed. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I really think that the musicality of each of these tracks is emphasized. Take the track Bete Noir, for example. There is absolutely a musical roadmap through the entire song. It’s so much more than merely picking a key and blasting through a riff over and over for two minutes. It’s an absolutely-fabulous dynamic track with nine minutes of journey through insanity and brutality, but also totally-full of memorable musical dynamics that end up giving it true “song” structure, and not just a mechanical repetition of heavy guitars chugging high-low-high-low. I really liken this to bands like An Abstract Illusion, who’s recent offering was my AOTY a couple of years back for that exact reason.
The album became even more interesting during the front-to-back listen as it ended up having a couple of instrumental tracks back to back, which was odd to me as a production decision. Usually, those are peppered in between traditional tracks on an album. I was really not just enjoying the tracks with the vocals, but I ended up finding myself just really entertained by the musical dynamic and presentation. It was clear to me that A Kindness Dealt In Venom wasn’t just a normal or mainstream album. This was probably going to be an AOTY contender, not just for tech death, or even all death metal. This was shaping up to be one of the baddest albums of the whole year that I really think everyone needs to hear a couple of times. I also really enjoyed the spoken-word poetry on Monument to Failure, which was a welcome surprise.
Overall, this is a hard 5/5 for me. This album was absolutely just full of talk-worthy moments, tracks, instrumentals, breakdowns, poetry, atmosphere, dynamics, continuity, guitar and bass insanity, as well as the excellent vocals. I just can’t say enough good things about this album. I’m generally only likely to give out a 5/5 for something that I really think deserves to be heard by everyone who loves death metal. I really think I’m willing to take this one to the mat against anyone who is wanting to offer a better alternative at this point.
(5 / 5)
