Fresh off of their impressive duo of Hell-year spawned demo tapes these two relative newcomers to the Seattle, Washington-area ‘old school’ death metal sphere resemble natural compatriots in terms of rotten, cavernous classicism. That isn’t to say that Deconsecration and Re-Buried are particularly similar in style but that the whole of the experience is notably cohesive for the sake of being rendered by the same hands and specifically for this split. The whole event is surprisingly professional (artwork, layout, production, physical release) and well-planned in companion with some of new songs introduced on each of the two quintets’ streamed live performances back in late December of 2020. The curation is appreciated, each band appears to be improving their riffcraft, and it all represents a stellar foot forward within a niche they could easy get lost had they a blasé attitude.

Decades of DIY punk 7″ splits, black metal split LPs, shoehorned together studio extras, and demo reissues clapped together for a quick tour buck have made me wary of taking this kind of release too seriously but in this case these songs are (again) freshly recorded and intended specifically for a dual showcase to introduce each band as they’re beginning to hit stride. Old habits die hard on my part and as always I’ve picked a definitive “winner” in my mind, if only for the sake of personal trivia I’ll whip out later when “preferring their earlier stuff.” In this case it’d have to be Deconsecration after having spent plenty of time with their first demo tape (‘Demo 2020‘, 2020) last year, setting it at #93 on my Top 100 of 2020 and generally appreciating their cavernous yet not too adventurous style which focuses on the primal groove of late 80’s underground death metal while updating the brutality and greater roar of it all to the standards of ’93-’94 death metal, somewhere in the ballpark of Funebrarum and Grave. This set of songs works out at a slightly faster clip and features more impromptu feeling solos; I couldn’t pin down their influences to just one era or region quickly, so I figure they’ve done a fine job crossing thrashier early Death-esque hits with brutal, grinding doom-hammered movements throughout.

Re-Buried also released a similarly titled demo (‘Demo 2020‘, 2020) last year yet I’d entirely missed out on it last March. Their style isn’t less precise or brutal via a direct comparison with Deconsecration but appears more rooted in thrash metal-sized development of riffs which ultimately amounts to a few Bolt Thrower influenced guitar arrangements; This was only slightly more noticeable in a live (er, live streaming) setting where the band appeared very well-practiced and eager to launch this new destruction. “Sepulchral Stench” was the centerpiece of these new tracks for my own taste, for its slightly more doomed atmosphere and some of the complex rhythm guitar work that hits in its second half. The only song that makes its way over from Re-Buried‘s first tape is the somewhat improved “Skin Wagon”, clipping just a handful of seconds off its blasting two minute rip and yet highlighting the split with its energetic movements.

As I’d suggested earlier, each of these bands compliment one another whether it is a live showcase or a split LP and there really isn’t any particular caveat or, wrench thrown into the works that prevents me from spinning the whole record through and through. If you like old school death metal in its conglomerated, non-scene/origin specific form that has cropped up this last decade then these bands will fit squarely within the ‘mid-to-fast paced and more brutal for it’ section of your playlist. What tipped this one up to a high recommendation? Riffs more or less got me there but the cover painting from tattoo/fine artist Moises Pimentel kinda slapped me off the fence and had me wanting a copy, the image is simply memorable for its pocked, gaping skull and fine sepia oxidized tinge. A complete and well-crafted package overall that I’d found convincing right away, and a solid event to return to. A high recommendation.

Info:
ARTIST:	DECONSECRATION / RE-BURIED
TITLE:	Split LP
TYPE:	LP
LABEL(S):	Chaos Records, Caligari Records
RELEASE DATE:	January 31st, 2021
BUY & LISTEN:	Bandcamp [All Formats]
GENRE(S):	Death Metal

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