Copenhagen-based Deathcore merchants CABAL seethe with a single-minded intensity on their debut EP "Purge," a vortex of negative reality and hatred that batters the listener with its crushing, bottom-heavy assault. While the band members hail from various Danish Metal acts such as NEW DISCOLOUR and EMBRACING SICKNESS, their collective focus centers on the harsh emotional deserts their music creates, its blackened grasp smothering all. Rather than leaning on dizzying technicality and/or shredding solos to carry the load, "Purge" keeps the listener on edge with its constant sense of foreboding and malice. Songs like "Innocent Blood" suck the oxygen out of the air and replace it with poison, its hellish atmosphere and chugging, rhythmic pounding. The title track eschews the sneaking slowness of the latter song with its frenzied aggression.

"Legion" is very much in the same vein as "Blood," but its building and subsequent discharging of momentum, culminating with vocalist Andreas Bjulver's high-register screams amidst the band's sceptic guitar sound, takes the song in a completely different, and satisfying, direction. CABAL's sound is built on their ability to build momentum and keep the listener guessing, which plays into their affinity for atmosphere-heavy music, but they sound just as comfortable plowing ahead with a more straightforward attack, as the ridiculously low-end riffing of "Cursed" can attest. As dark and heavy as "Purge" can be, though, you start to get a little bit of déjà vu after spending about twenty straight minutes in the same two or three-note register. If you're not really into this style of music, the difference between songs might not be so clear, as the same directness and focus that defines their sound also kind of limits their reach. That being said, it would be highly unfair to lump CABAL in with the kind of garden-variety acts that have earned Deathcore its reputation as a "cookie-cutter" subgenre, especially with their keen sense of mood and song development. While "Purge" is far from perfect, it is a solid offering whose blackened melodies and pure ferocity make it worth a listen.