Sepulcration Death Metal

Sepulcration are a pretty new band hailing from Madrid and worshipping at the altar of old school nineties death metal. Of course this is nothing new and there are a lot of other peers doing the same – however, these guys offer a lot of freshness and professionalism making their second EP “Undead Rising” a more than worthy purchase for any fan of straightforward death metal. Similar to e.g. Vomitory the guys from Sepulcration have included elements from various styles of death metal in their music while being rooted in the traditional old school vein. Most of the time they are operating in full throttle mode at breakneck speed. However, in some sections the tempo slows down giving the music even more intensity by acting as a contrast to the faster parts. This approach has already worked out for bands like Bolt Thrower and it is no different here. The stomping yet groovy main riffs in those sections get the head automatically banging. Sepulcration understood that passive listeners are mainly interested in stringent and cohesive songs and not in different complex pieces of instrumentation just randomly strung together. The songwriting is on point and the flow of the EP is great. There is not one moment of dullness or boredom and the whole EP feels like a very well planned and executed piece of music. Although paying tribute to some big names like Immolation, Malevolent Creation or the above mentioned Vomitory it would be unfair to call Sepulcration copy cats. Their approach of being open for a broader range of influences led to them being more creative in the songwriting department compared to the average modern death metal band. Each song can easily be distinguished from one another. While some are your classic genre hymns with blast-beats and chainsaw guitars others concentrate on moodier parts or harmonic hooks. The instrumentation is top notch and the hellish and very deep growling is the icing on the cake making the overall sound even more intense. The production is spot on being powerful and punchy while adding just the right amount of putridity. All instruments can be heard and no detail gets buried in the mix. The cover art work is as old school as it gets so I am glad to report that there are also physical copies available that will make “Undead Rising” a nice looking addition to any collection. The only negative aspect I can report is that we only got four real tracks and one intro with a total running time of less than twenty minutes. However, I am pretty sure that we are going to hear more from this band in the near future.