Hideous Divinity – Unextinct
Release Date: 22nd March 2024
Label: Century Media Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Nile, Cattle Decapitation, Suffocation, Ulcerate, Hate Eternal, Behemoth.
Review By: Eric Wilt
If you’ve ever thought metal musicians were an unintelligent lot, then you’ve not spent enough time with Hideous Divinity. With a vocalist who is a medical doctor and a bassist who is a Ph.D., Hideous Divinity has to be one of the most educated bands in the world in any genre. That in itself would be impressive enough, but in addition to being a bunch of brainiacs, Hideous Divinity is also a top-tier death metal band, as they prove yet again on their latest Century Media release, Unextinct.
Unextinct continues Hideous Divinity’s trend of writing ferocious songs executed flawlessly and with immaculate production. The album sounds huge, and its unending barrage of aggressive riffs will keep listeners on the edge of their seats. Some people describe the band as technical death metal, and they are to an extent, but when I think of technical death metal, I think of bands like The Zenith Passage and Necrophagist. Hideous Divinity is technical death metal in the same way that Nile is, and when I think of Nile, I think more of straight-up death metal destruction.
If you want to know what Hideous Divinity is all about, you need look no further than the first song (after the instrumental opener, Dust Settles on Humanity), The Numinous One. The riffs come fast and heavy, solos abound, the drums are blistering, and the vocals sound as evil as you’d expect from a band called Hideous Divinity. Each song thereafter is a variation on the formula that has served the band so well for so long. Other standout tracks include Against the Sovereignty of Mankind and the albums two eight-plus minute songs, Atto Quarto: The Horror Paradox and Leben Ohne Feuer, but there really isn’t a bad song on the record. Five albums in, Hideous Divinity shows no signs of slowing down. If anything, Unextinct has upped the ante in ferocity and merciless aggression. With the album, Hideous Divinity hasn’t rewritten the book on their sound, but they may have perfected it.
(4 / 5)
