Music:
1. Hallowed Grounds (Intro To Rotting Salvation/Prelude To Album) - 2:00
The whispering of an artificial howling wind, masked by mountains of effects, creeps in, joined by booms and whistles that sound faintly like bells, distorted heavily by cold, reverberating echoes. Mentally, images of freezing gray mausoleums and broken, decaying slate graves unfold, like dots amid a browning, dead forest. You can almost see the full moon, glowing wickedly over head, as a clang not far off from the sound of distant machinery snaps the near silence. Around the 35 second point, the bells, whose notes seem to sustain themselves for hauntingly infinite amounts of time, begin chromatically descending, building knots in your stomach. This is when a deep, demonic voice slithers into the mix, chanting indiscernible jumbles of words. The mans voice is doubled and looped, adding an unsteady and hypnotic effect. Just as the track seems to have completely mesmerized its listeners, a far of, metallic poly rhythm breaks the spell. At first, all that is heard is the distant, crunchy snare/guitar combo of 'buh-duh-buh-duh, buh, buh-duh-buh-duh', followed by the cryptic mass of noise that introduced the song. This pattern is repeated, until the fourth time through, which ends in a much more in your face, punchy chord. Corey counts out to four on a shimmery sounding hi-hat, and Black Gold Reign converges into actual song, Jimmy and Matt harmonizing wicked, Halloween-esque chord patters, which are chromatically "harmonized" by David, while Corey keeps with the steady poly-rhythm on the snare, all the while keeping the beat with quarter notes on his double kick pedal, tuned slightly higher than normal for the punchy, smash your jaw effect. They pass through this 4 times, and once again meet the single chord followed by hi-hat counting. This time they transition into a brutal chugging riff, embellished by sliding chord progressions and un-naturally tight diminished trills. Repeating the now established pattern, they hang on a single, distorted and knotty chord, and this time the track begins to fade, signaling the end of the song.
2. Rotting Salvation - 3:55
3. In The Blink Of A Sunken Eye - 3:38
4. God Of Mortals - 3:52
Possibly the most straight forward, hold no-barres song of the album. The track begins with a metallic and heavily distorted sounding guitar riff, produce to sound as if it's being played out of an old radio with grainy reception. One massive smash of the floor tom drops like a bomb, exploding into a frenzy of knotty and jagged riffage. The calculated jumble of dry, heavy guitar work & rolling drum fills conjures a mood not far off from western based slasher films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the up and coming The Graves. The verse converges on an uber chunky and vicious riff, resembling something Pantera could've written, except played at the tempo a loaded speed fiend would approve of. Corey keeps the tempo down with tight and extremely precise blast beating, giving Scott room to belt out the first lyric in true death metal growl form. The song progresses, never letting up on the sheer fury of pure American death metal, flying past riff after brutal riff, held down by raw, ever changing drum savagery. 'God Of Mortals' takes a slight turn around a minute in, opting for a more groove oriented chorus, a la Cannibal Corpse's masterpiece 'The Bleeding', Scott echoing the deathly lows with equally ferocious high screams. Black Gold Reign touches back on familiar territory, running through a couple of the previous riffs, adding a powerful musical foundation to the song. Around halfway through, the mood shifts to a more grindcore feel, every sustained chord and lightning riff matched in intensity by Corey's restless blasting. The vocals are spat out with punkish attitude, reminiscent of Black Flag circa-'Damaged', flowing nicely with the politically themed lyrics. The quarter note feel guitar bits are syncopated quite effortlessly by the double bass, increasing the shock value of back-to-back stop-start rhythm changes. In a small ode to their European masters, guitarists Jimmy and Matt work up a sweat with two counter-playing riffs, adding to a strong harmonic/diminished feel, pairing nicely with a deep, guttural growl courtesy of Scott Trevors. The track ventures back into traditional death metal format, paying homage to The Black Dahlia Murder via the drum/vocal synchronization, backed by sharp fret work. 'God Of Mortals' breaks down into an army-esque bridge, a flashy military snare pattern holding down the line for Jimmy and Matt to toy around with more melodic and drawn out guitar licks. The vocals loom in again, as if being projected over a radio to the general public, broadcasting waves of treason and propaganda:
"To amuse the gods of fortune
The itching appetite
Grows as these hounds
Unearth these leaders"
Still going strong past the 3 minute mark, Black Gold Reign rips into a massive chunk of napalm injected thrashing, the drums working up a sweat with ludicrously fast, uber triggered double bass frenzy. Not even slowing an ounce for climactic tension, the track wears on, Scott belting out the final lyrics as if he himself was the Anti-Christ. The death metal scree comes down once and for all on a single heavy note, choked to preserve the overall extreme tightness of the track.
5. A Tragedy Macabre - 3:11
6. Darkness Never To Wane - 2:44
7. Grasp Of The Frozen Pines - 3:43
8. To The Humble Maggots, The Putrid Flies - 4:18
9. Porcelain - 2:52
10. Paint It Black - 2:36
Edited by user 30 April 2010 17:39:45(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
