Album Review: Putrid Dominion

Wellington-based blackened thrash outfit Pervertor are back with their third-full length album, Putrid Dominion, some four years since Perverted Tales of Depravity. Since they released their first demo back in 2009 the band have had the same line-up throughout of Necroar (vocals), Inebriator (guitar), Carnage (bass), and Rots (drums). This goes some way to explaining why Inebriator and Carnage are just so incredibly tight together – often playing as a dual melodic attack as opposed to sitting back with Rots. There is distinct space around the drums, which allows the sound to come through really clearly; this is great as Rots is an incredible workman, pushing his kit to the limit by using every inch of it, often at breakneck speed. But not always, as in songs such as Sickening, they go through at pace and then drop down into doom, always with Rots pummelling from the rear.

With strong support, Carnage can use his bass as if he is on a second guitar, only rarely deviating from the melodic path being undertaken by Inebriator, providing a tight bottom sound which extends the power of the riff. Blackened thrash is a style that can often be much maligned, but within the black metal sub-genre it is one of my favourites, pushing black metal into areas which it traditionally held sway before moving into areas such as folk and even gothic. No keyboards or choirs here, just four guys attempting to rip your ears to shreds. Then at the front we have Necroar, who has obviously been taking his influences from the likes of the great Attila Csihar. He has a harsh style which both contrasts with the fluidity of the music accompanying him, yet somehow is a perfect match. When he is not singing the music takes on a totally different manner and timbre, yet as soon as he approaches the microphone the menace and dread come powering through. The switching of pace in different numbers allows the listener to appreciate the dynamics and different styles, which means that the heaviness continues to be dominant throughout without ever losing the vitality and contrast.

This is a powering and powerful release, with all eight songs hitting incredibly hard, and at thirty minutes is the perfect length in that it comes in and assaults the senses before disappearing until the listener feels the time is right to put it on again. Previously they have mastered their own recordings, but this time they used Jack Control of Enormous Door Mastering (Darkthrone, Aura Noir, Isengard, Mork, Cianide, and Old Wainds), a real heavyweight of the scene who has provided additional sonic cut through..

Not only has it been made available digitally, but there are limited edition CDs, cassettes, and vinyl. Cassettes are definitely making their way back into the underground scene, especially in extreme forms of metal, while vinyl must be the way to go with this album as the additional warmth and great art (they have used the same artist on all their albums). I can only hope that they will see fit to come up to Auckland when we are able to get back into live music, as hearing these guys in Ding Dong would be awesome. See you there!