Avulsed have been at this for more than 30 years now, and I still don’t think they get enough props when discussing the veterans of European Death Metal. ‘Phoenix Cryptobiosis’ is a fairly solid reminder of why they should be in those discussions.
Little age has been taken out of the band. Even with lineup changes over the years, the aggression and identity are still completely in tact. This is a heavy album from start to finish, but there’s enough variation between blasting sections, chunky grooves, and slower passages to make it not feel like they’re just beating the same idea into the ground track after track.
Dave Rotten has clearly been a major part of keeping that identity alive. His gutturals are just deep and nasty, and there are moments that level of low end delivery brings to mind an early version of Chris Barnes. The guitars are packed with crunch as well, occasionally touching on that premium Swedish Death Metal sound but still feeling entirely like Avulsed.
The production deserves some mentions as well. Everything comes through clean and powerful without sanding away the ugliness that Death Metal needs, and more importantly you can actually hear how tight the playing is. There’s some pretty great technique that runs through ‘Phoenix Cryptobiosis’, but Avulsed never let that technical ability get in the way of writing riffs that will make you want to just bang your head.
After this many years, Avulsed could just be resting on their name alone. This album has shown that they are not, and this still has the same technique and aggression that you would want from them. From the sound, I’d say the band still has more left in the tank.
