Engulfed – Unearthly Litanies of Despair

7 Years since the last full length (yes there was an excellent EP in 2020) has been released and finally the 2^nd record on full distance has been unearthed by Engulfed from Türkiye throwing ‘Unearthly Litanies of Despair’ upon mankind.

Fans of dark, obscure Death Metal can put this one already on their list, as fans ranging from mid era Morbid Angel, to Sadistic Intent, Immolation and most prominent Dead Congregation will have a blast for sure.

8 tracks of straight DEATH FUCKING METAL, the sinister way, having the perfect mix between technicality, groove and brutality to create that unearthly atmosphere Engulfed and the aforementioned bands are known for.

The production is excellent once again, as well as the fitting artwork enhances the work of the band.

What I recognized at the first listen is that their songs are more catchy than ever, means killer riffs that have been kept interesting with small details, as well as song structures that work in favour of the songs, not becoming too labyrinthian, which makes this work overall more audible.

The melodic guitar soloing surely helps to makes the listen even easier to digest (talking about Rutan kind of melodies here). Always well written and well incorporated.

The songs are flowing like lava here (Trey would be proud, I guess), heavy and punishing at the same time once it grabs you, like in ‘Infernal Desolation’ for example.

Tremolo picking, blast and double bass sound carpets, thundering bass and guttural vocals, the ingredients are not new, but brilliantly executed (props again to the solo sections).

Another track I want to highlight is the crawling beginning of ‘Cursed Eternity’, a brilliant start, so dark and heavy before it transfers into a blastfest for  a certain period of time, changing again into groovy artillery so to speak, before the lead guitar overtakes, very captivating.

‘Ancient Abyssal Conquest’ is probably the most “complete” track of the band, showing the entire range of Engulfed’s sound in perfection on short terms.. That first riff, sick!

And If you think it ends here, well, so wrong gentlemen, Occult Incantations is THE final piece of art where the band goes Beast mode. More intriguing, complex while still heavy and catchy at times, a monolithic, epic ending, with clean guitars who let you drift away in a parallel universe to round up a killer successor to their first LP. Recommended.