Phobocosm – Foreordained
Release Date: 8th December 2023
Label: Dark Descent
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Death-Doom Metal.
FFO: Immolation, Incantation, Ulcerate.
Review By: Eric Wilt
They say good things come to those who wait, and fans of Montreal’s ultra-heavy death metal crew Phobocosm are about to put that theory to the test. After releasing two albums in rather short order, Phobocosm waited seven years to release album number three, which will see the light of day on 8 December 2023. The album, Foreordained, is made up of six atmospheric death-doom songs that will pummel listeners and leave no doubt that album number three was worth the wait.
Foreordained is so heavy and atmospheric, it sounds like it was recorded deep in a cave, while the low, growled vocals sound as if they could’ve been performed by one of the cave dwellers himself. In addition to this, Phobocosm adds just enough dissonance to the songs to make them good and unsettling. Take Primal Dread, for instance. It starts off with a fast-tempo death metal groove that eventually gives way to slower, dissonant riffs that comprise most of the rest of the song. This back and forth between blast-beat driven death metal and dissonant doom is a common theme throughout the album and sees it peek in the nearly eight-minute Infomorph. Fans of Immolation will especially enjoy what Phobocosm has brought on album number three.
Despite the long wait between releases, Phobocosm has maintained the super-heavy death-doom sound that made their first two albums, 2014s Deprived and 2016s Bringer of Drought, so enjoyable. So, if you’ve been wondering if album number three was worth the wait, let me assure you, it was.
(3.5 / 5)
