Vile Rites – Senescence

Although this American trio is quite young in age, they seem to be intrigued by the concept of time. The band’s previously released (and stunning) EP was called ‘The Ageless’ and with ‘Senescence’ we are again treated on something that seems to evolve around the same sort of topics. While still being young, the band that they bring with Vile Rites is very much timeless. Just like on ‘The Ageless’ (2022) the band cranks out some relentless technical and progressive Death Metal while still retaining an overtly brutal side. But as with much of this sort of Technical Death Metal, it purveys a certain aura of futurism and overall sense of forward thinking, which brings the whole thing back to the concept of time and space. But, rest assured, there’s certainly no ageing or deterioration here.

Even while completely unexpected and appearing out of thin air, ‘The Ageless’ was one of 2022’s highlights on this specific musical field. Vile Rites, the band name can also easily throw you off track, had some amazing tricks of adventurous and creative Death Metal up their collective sleeves. On ‘Senescence’ these same tricks are being applied, which obviously means that the element of utter surprise is gone, but what is left is the trio’s impeccable musical abilities. And, frankly, on this debut album these lads have pushed their boundaries even further, consequently delivering an even more awe-inspiring and overall more mature recording.

If we’d go for a full dissection here, the individual building blocks used to create ‘Senescence’ are still mostly the same. The majority of the music is based upon the musical legacy of Gorguts and, in slightly lesser extent, Suffocation. But added to this already musically challenging blend is a good dash of Cynic’s and Atheist’s wonderfully innovative and visionary work. While all three of the musicians seem to be exceptionally gifted, it is (again) bassist Stephen Coon who steals the shows. His bass-lines are otherworldly and add more than just a bit to the already colourful dimensions of the music.

This is indeed the sort of music that has that bit of restless spirit, with ongoing tempo changes, shifting from riff to riff and with lots of almost distressing melodies. But Vile Rites is able to weave this all naturally into a living beast that flows as the tides, going from wild and untamed Death Metal to quieter and more soundscape-ish passages. Especially towards the end of the album there seems to be more room for even more experimenting. Into the waning moments of this 40-minute epos, the band goes into little spacey territories, at times even doomy. But all in the same unorthodox and mind-challenging ways.

Maybe not so much Death Metal as Gorguts and not as quirky or jazzy as Cynic, but Vile Rites finds itself right in between these two genre giants. Adopting the best parts out of the respective brands of Technical Death Metal and combining them into something that might not sound overly original, but is played so convincingly that Vile Rites is able to compete with all of the best bands out there doing the non-conventional and Technical/Progressive Death Metal. No, this is no niche genre in decline, and certainly not a band in senescence. On the very contrary even.