Labels: Lacerated Enemy Records
Formats: Vinyl/CD/Digital
Release Date: 22 Oct 2021
Tracklist:
1. I Stole Alien Technology From A Dead Fucking Alien And Now I Am Fucking Immortal
2. Hell Froze
3. Intergorelactic
4. A Humanless War
Spain isn't a country I visit much on this blog. That's where tech-death/deathcore band Thirteen Bled Promises come in though. From the Spanish capital Madrid, the quintet formed in 2006 (then called Thirteen Bleed Promises). Under that name they released one demo before changing it in 2010. Since then, they've gone on to release a second demo, two full-lengths, some singles and most recently, their newest EP Foundation. It was released last October via Czechian label Lacerated Enemy Records.
Here we go then, a voyage into the semi-unknown. ‘I Stole Alien Technology From A Dead Fucking Alien And Now I Am Fucking Immortal’ is as blistering as openers get. The drumming is warp-speed, while the guitar work is pure death metal with a technical edge. The vocals are slightly blackened but definitely routed in the modern era. There are slams too, but they’re kept at bay by the melody and atmosphere that is created by the guitars. I’m not afraid to say that this song surprises me and surpasses my expectations so far.
The thing with tech-death for me is that it can go by in a blur of blastbeats and squeals, but that isn’t the case with Thirteen Bled Promises. ‘Hell Froze’ still has that element of brutality but there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye (or ear). The amount of music that’s shoehorned into it as a song is pretty impressive. That goes for the rest of the release too.
Thirteen Bled Promises are not a gore-death band, preferring instead to focus on cosmic/space imagery and themes. ‘Intergorelactic’ is a genius song title though and it opens with a great barrage of riffs that point towards the early-mid 00’s era of metalcore, without affecting the momentum of the death metal on show. I love instrumental tech-death (which isn’t practiced anywhere near enough now). These guys pull it off brilliantly here for almost half of the song’s length. The other half is made up of their epic extremity in it’s full glory.
EP closer ‘A Humanless War’ is probably the most brutal song on Foundation, pace-wise anyway. It’s also where the band’s blackened elements are more obviously heard. As verbose and pretentious as my writing is here, I can honestly say that these four songs have made me truly appreciate brutal/tech death again. There aren’t many bands now that can make me feel that way and there won’t be many in the future either. Thirteen Bled Promises are definitely one of the good ones.
FFO: Vulvodynia, Brand Of Sacrifice, Cerebric Turmoil, A Wanted Awakening
You can stream and purchase Foundation digitally below:-
Physical copies and merch can be purchased from Lacerated Enemy Records below:-
https://laceratedenemy.bigcartel.com/artist/thirteen-bled-promises
Thirteen Bled Promises - https://www.facebook.com/thirteenbp
Lacerated Enemy Records - https://www.facebook.com/laceratedenemyrecords