The high standards and innovative thought coming from Australian death metal over the last several decades isn’t lost upon the latest death metal export out of Sydney in the form of the relatively unknown Golgothan Remains. Their debut full-length ‘Perverse Offerings to the Void’ measures the dissonant death rattles of early Ulcerate and Portal but weighs them against the unpredictable dynamics of occult black metal like Abyssal and Deathspell Omega to great success. The album is an achievement that manages to retain the fluidity and the almighty power of the death metal riff within the muffled chaos of dissonant black/death metal arrangements. In fact, to speak to the clarity of sound here, few bands playing this style have been mixed so competently into crystalline darkness than the superior Audiosiege treatment this album has been given. Golgothan Remains have highlighted early 2018 with an explosive and texturally brilliant atmospheric death metal album.

Beyond the Grave Miasma-like early Incantation fed bursts of depressive horror and dissonant modern black metal influences ‘Perverse Offerings to the Void’ excels in it’s multitudes of variation and mind-numbingly dynamic drum performances that echo within the style of modern cavern-core equivalency but with one foot planted in the graven, dryness of old school death metal. With loudly thundering drummer slamming circles around their contemporaries, such as Cruciamentum, Golgothan Remains manage to eventually chip away at Incantation comparisons and reign in some of the more appropriately modern influences felt on their debut. Semi-redundant composition and an atmospheric dedication to a style not far removed from Lvcifyre‘s black/death monstrosity ‘Svn Eater’ and Abyssal‘s bloated cavern of terror ‘Antikatastaseis’ gives Golgothan Remains a credibly dark sound that can still resound in the minds of old school death metal fans.

Although tracks like “From Chaos It Has Come” manage to build a frenzy of guitar riffs and hyper-kinetic dissonance the effect wears thin towards the middle of this relatively brief 34 minute album. Granted it picks up on tracks like “Phantom Earth” when the old school patterns re-create a certain familiarity needed within the buzzing torrent of the tracklist. I would have limited interest in a record from this band were it a full hour but I’m able to wrestle away my gripes with it’s relative same-ness throughout because of it’s brilliant sound and succinct delivery. While I have compared their debut to caverncore bands and dissonant black metal ‘Perverse Offerings to the Void’ doesn’t suffer from bloated ambiance and death/doom trappings of those styles. Nine of the ten tracks on the record land under four minutes long and this allows for riffs to get in and out without overstating their importance and this succinct approach allows the talented drummer to kick out an exceptionally dynamic performance needed to anchor the chaotic dissonance that makes up about half of the riffing within.

Absolutely one of the best releases of February and 2018 in general though it will ultimately have niche appeal aimed at fans of atmospheric death metal permutations and folks who want to hear more dissonant black metal riffs within that niche. An impressive debut from a band that’ve come out of the box ready to hold their own with the best of death metal’s atmo-avant elite.

Lungs filled with embers. 4.0/5.0

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