Engulfed – Unearthly Litanies of Despair
Release Date: 19th April 2024
Label: Me Saco Un Ojo / Dark Descent
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Brutal Death Metal, Old School Death Metal, Death Doom.
FFO: Incantation, Grave Miasma, Burial Invocation, Dead Congregation, Immolation.
Review By: Rick Farley
Turkish masters of supreme brutality, Engulfed return with their sophomore album, Unearthly Litanies of Despair, being released by Me Saco Un Ojo Records (Vinyl) and Dark Descent Records CD/cassette version) on April 19th, 2024.
Formed in 2010, Engulfed which consists of notable members of the Turkish death metal scene has two EPs and one full length under their belt. Their debut Engulfed in Obscurity, released in 2017 is a harrowing example of scene veterans doing it right with the hopes of bigger and badder things to come. The band takes elements of old school brutal death metal and adds bits of gloomy atmosphere and tons of fierce melodies, much in the same way Incantation does. Always savage as fuck, but with stylistic musicality. After nearly seven years since the debut, where does album number two Unearthly Litanies of Despair place the band in today’s scene?
Right smack-dab in the middle of everything. Now, that might sound like a bit of a slight, but it is really not meant to be. Bands like Engulfed fit like a pair of familiar gloves, you have worn them a thousand times, but they still feel so fucking comfortable. I know, kind of a dumb analogy concerning death metal. How about, so if you are an axe murderer, those are the gloves you would choose. Not much better, honestly. Moving on.
Unearthly Litanies of Despair slithers and oozes with old school grimy guitar tones, ripping solos and hammering double bass. The riffs are jagged and churning in swampy swedeath glory. Massive gutturals are bellowing with the threat of demonic fervour. The sum of all its part is what makes Engulfed a band to pay attention to. Balanced production, tremendous musicianship, and straight up good fucking death metal songs.
Voidwalker’s Dominion is a callous track that’s somehow, suffocating, claustrophobic and utterly blistering. The equivalent of being ripped apart by a wolverine in an enclosed box with a few breaths of air left. The grizzled and dingy atmosphere of Echoes of Suffering is doomy without being overly dramatic. The riffs are tight, with gritty tones barbed enough to grind flesh. Unholy and gnarly solos, screeching through old school recklessness. This track has a hookiness that is undeniably filthy yet catchy. The drums drive each tempo, ranging from dragged through the mud to murderous ferocity. Occult Incantations, which ends the album, is the longest of the bunch at nearly eight minutes of anguished death metal. It’s a perfect example of how to do death doom properly. Slow churning fuzzy melody and demonic growls, each delivering thick, dark, and dingy ambience. The track never erupts, but the level of ruthlessness is on full punishing display. Changing tempos from crawling to mid-pace double bass bashing could wreck a small city. A grim two-minute clean guitar passage with eerie leads closes the album with a sense of decaying self-reflection and utter despair.
If I had to nitpick; a couple tracks do lack the death metal magic previously discussed, but by no means are they bad songs, not even close.
In the end, though, Unearthly Litanies of Despair is a worthy and familiar addition to the annals of death metal. While it may not be an instant classic, it stands on its own and will be enjoyed by hordes of fans.
(3.5 / 5)
