Labels: Self-Released
Formats: Tape/Digital
Release Date: 25 Oct 2019
Tracklist:
1. Gloaming
2. Dead Flies
3. Apparations
This is the first recording in five years to come from Wisconsin (USA) black/extreme metallers Tragic Death. The quartet has been releasing music in this current state for almost a decade, with their "Pre Apocalyptic Demo 2011" and debut full-length "Apocalyptic Metal" coming within twelve months of each other, before a split with Fiends At Feast called "Purgatory Rites" that saw the light of day in 2014 via Horror Pain Gore Dead Productions. They're back now having found their own path and refined their sound along the way.
The main bedrock of Tragic Death’s sound is black metal but they approach it in an experimental way, which at times is more akin to the extreme metal played by the likes of Cadaveric Fumes and Skelethal. It has swathes of the occult flowing through it and an orchestral/symphonic edge adding to the evil contained within EP opener Gloaming. The guitars provide the majority of the forward progression while the percussion and vocals are undoubtedly venomous.
Despite the bleak image that second-song Dead Flies portrays, the musicianship at it’s beginning is exceptional with melodic guitar building up to something that’s slower in tempo but that fits the EP really well. It’s kind of like black/doom initially before Tragic Death’s technical side takes over with fast/slow passages and riffs that dictate the tempos. It’s off-kilter and as with Gloaming before it, there’s plenty of instrumental-only sections. The passion the band has for their music is plain to see and hear.
Left till the end of this three song EP is Apparations. All seventeen-plus minutes of it. The ambient yet horrifying sample that makes up the intro signals a leap into much darker territory and what you get is black metal filled with sinister melody and heart-wrenching torment. It descends into an unholy mash-up of mesmerising noise and ice-cold shrieks that seem to blur into one another and even though at times it has a lo-fi feel, when everything is at full chat it’s massive. The classical/hispanic-inspired acoustic guitar mid-way through breaks up the heaviness and is really relaxing as it leads into a final third that's restrained and focused.
Focused is definitely a good descriptor to use when talking about “Born Of Dying Embers”. There’s a lot of music to lose yourself in here but thankfully Tragic Death goes about it all without losing you as a listener. Delivery is everything and this is spot on in terms of extreme metal. It’s accessible while also being dissonant enough to ward of the uninitiated. Great job and another reason to still be digging out the last few 2019 releases that may have escaped you.
You can stream "Born Of Dying Embers" below and purchase it on tape/digitally too:-
Tragic Death - https://www.facebook.com/218tragicdeath
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