Valkyrian Music

Depraved Plague
Systemic
Death Metal
Released: 2012
Self Released

Depraved Plague are a four piece death metal band who formed in January of 2010 and they hail from Cambridge. Fronted by Mark Taylor on Vocals, Chris on guitar, Emma on the bass and Michael on drums. Their influences are bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Morbid Angel and Goretted and it clearly shows in their new debut album, Systemic.

The first track on the album is entitled Chokehold, which starts with a nice two chord guitar part and a military march like drum rhythm which then gives way to an incredibly brutal blast beat and ferocious vocals and ripping guitars. This track really does hit you full force in the face and in a way lets you know who’s the boss. The track then slows down a bit towards the middle but by no means does the brutality let up, straight away it is clear this track is very Cannibal Corpse inspired and Depraved Plague would fit very well as a supporting band on one of their tours.

Asphyxiate is the second track and straight away it comes in with pounding blast beats and a very meaty sounding guitar, the vocals follow shortly after with an intensely guttural feel to them. This track is very old school death metal in its feel and I see it partly as a homage to what has gone before but in an updated sense, a very clever and well put together track indeed! In the middle of the track at approximately one minute and forty seconds there a nice little break which I can imagine would get people doing a circle of death mosh or something. This track is incredibly brutal and barely lets up its unrelenting pace, if you want to get some anger out of your system then this track is ideal to do that with, perfect headbanging material.

Next up is a track called, Endless Torment, which starts off quite sedately and almost has a black metal feel to it. There are some interesting harmonies here and it really paints a picture in the mind, however this does not last for long as the brutally smashes its way onto the track, yet again this has a bit of a Cannibal Corpse feel to it but not in so much of a way where it feels like it’s trying to copy it; ideas are certainly borrowed such as the rhythm and some similar chords progressions but that’s where the similarity ends.

If the last track was inspired by Cannibal Corpse the undoubtedly this next track, Degradation, is inspired by Deicide and old school Morbid Angel. The track itself feels old school yet with a modern and exciting twist, its a short and sharp shock to the system and leaves the listener wanting more.

Your Final Execution is the fifth track and it is quite a different track to all the others and yet it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. It’s more of a momentary departure. The rhythmic patterns are completely different and a whole host of other ideas are going on, it works really well and is perfect for a nice slow head bang in places. This track really does show off the skill of the musicians in Depraved Plague, it is clear they have honed their skills and they use them like a sharpened samurai sword or a sniper riffle to assassinate all that opposes it, it is unrelenting yet in a way melodic, a very interesting mix indeed!

The sixth track is entitled Human Revulsion and unfortunately I think this is the weakest track on the album, that’s not to say it’s not a good track because it is, I just feel it is not as strong in its conviction and purpose as the other tracks. Having said that there are some interesting rhythmic progressions and some really choppy guitar riffs.

Track seven, Decayed From Birth… This track is absolutely immense and I wish there was an accurate word to use to describe it, brutal and unrelenting barely even scratches the surface in trying to convey how this track sounds, there is a really interesting meatiness to the guitars that would make many a guitarist proud to even come close to attaining a guitar tone that thick and meaty. There’s also a nice little bass break on this track that adds a little something extra without compromising the overall integrity.

Carnal Rage is the eighth track and it really is a hard one to describe, imagine if you were to get a rabid pit bull and merge it with a dragon, then you can begin to understand the mix of brutality, heaviness and an epicness that this track has. This track could easily be used for a post apocalyptic or zombie like movie to give it that added edge.

The final track is entitled Rapture in Death and yet again it is quite an epic track, I do feel this can be a starting point for Depraved Plague‘s next album. I would advise them to carry on with this idea and to keep the epic almost movie soundtrack kind of style they have going on with the riffs in this track. It is a nice mix of brutality and clarity at the same time, a very impressive track indeed!

My final thoughts on this album are very positive, there is a nice progression that goes on with this album and that can often be a hard thing to do, to go from point A all the way to point Z and giving a well defined idea and picture of what the album is all about. There are many, many brutal elements in this album as well as a creeping epicness on the last two tracks, if Depraved Plague continue this progression and sense of epic wonder in their next album then I can easily guarantee they will have a very popular record on their hands which I feel will cross over the usually musical boundaries and sense of genre. Yes it is Death Metal but it can attract fans from other genres and truly bring a united sense of being, brotherhood and downright brutality to all who listen to it!

Depraved Plague are definitely a band to watch out for!

5/5

~Scorpius~

This entry was posted on 25th August 2012 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Review with tags Death Metal, depraved plague, self released, systemic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.