EXISTENTIUM is a four-piece death metal band from Baltimore, MD. The band released their full-length debut, "Decadent Desecration" in spring, 2014. EXISTENTIUM is undoubtedly death metal and at times the tracks can seem generic in relation to the genre, but EXISTENTIUM manages to put a unique spin on the death metal blueprint. Hard, droning riffs are juxtaposed with beautifully woven, quick solos and flawless guitar harmony. There are no clean vocals but they still harmonize in a way that drives the album into melodic territory.

The album starts with "Equilibrium", a nice but ominous acoustic track with droning bass riffs that erupt into a victorious sounding riff before segueing seamlessly into the title track, "Decadent Desecration". The second track sets the precedent for the rest of the album in tone and message. "Decadent Destruction" involves surprisingly quick time changes backed by an epic tempo and an amazing solo around the four-minute mark. The song is surprisingly upbeat for presenting a message of planetary destruction until the one-minute mark, it then transforms into an unexpectedly violent musical melee.

The messages presented in "Decadent Desecration" are pretty standard, "we are dooming society with our greedy ways", a lyrical theme that occurs in so many death metal albums it can become tiring. EXISTENTIUM manages to bring forward a new point on the subject, the internet. "Viral Fear" focuses on how our infatuation with social networking and click-bate headlines is making us dumber and will (like so many other things) lead to our demise as a civilization. Another notable track is "Prey for Peace", a track I consider to be one of the heaviest tracks on the album. It is a raw, dirty track with few elements of EXISTENTIUM's harmonic influences, the solos are chaotic and quick, giving more attention to the powerful vocals and rhythm section than many of the other tracks. The album closes with "Enslaving Creation", the track has a very slow start and it doesn't pick up until 2:20 but still remains a largely sombre track and one of my favorites on the album.

EXISTENTIUM's unique style of blending melodic and power metal influences within their music sets them apart from a wide range of death metal bands and I can't wait to see what they do next! (Oh and check that album art out, Adam and Eve are stacked!)<