ASCENDED DEAD is a death metal band with roots in both California and Oregon   They formed in 2011 and 'Evenfall of the Apocalypse' is their second full length album.  They have also released two demos, two splits, two compilations, an EP, box set, and a live album. 'Evenfall...'  is my first exposure to this band so I can't speak of their past but for this album they play a rawer form of death metal.  This album is absolutely crazy, beastial, and filthy. It lacks a modern edge or refinement, preferring to go straight for the kill rather than prance around about it.  No clean vocal choruses.  No real forms of melody, save for a later track (more on that near the end of the review).  This is pure, frantic , violent death metal and it is glorious.

Jon Reider's vocals are off the map.  He sounds like he is constantly fighting for his very sanity and is on the verge of exploding.....very impressive he can give such a performance while also playing guitar.  Together with the other guitarist Ian Lawrence, the album is full to bursting with one riff after another.  The guitar is rather frantic and hard to pin down but it isn't messy-somehow they can control unbridled chaos.  Kevin (bass) and Charlie (drums) are one of the most solid rhythm sections I've heard on a death metal album this year.  They back up the guitars and keep up with the sonic assault but they are beastly on their own as well.

The first track, 'Intro/Abhorrent Manifestation' does something I wish more bands would-make or combine the intro as a full song.  After a brief section of what appears to be wind, the guitars rip through the air and the song is full speed ahead in seconds.  The drums are inhuman as is the focus of the entire band.  Each member plays so well together, all of them doing their part to help the other in these chaotic fields.  The song starts off intense but goes super death sonic in the mid section, including a short but sweet solo. 'Nexus of the Black Flame,' is highlighted by a massive vocal attack and a barrage of drums.  The song grows harder and faster until the blazing guitar solo, where it appears to break through the fabric of existence.  This song is almost three and a half minutes long but it feels like 45 seconds.  Blistering to a white hot degree.

'Tantum Bellum,' opens with a deep bass that I'm pretty sure moved my ears a few inches across my head.  The movement from 1:27 to 3:03 is mind boggling.  I can't imagine that they weren't all exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally after recording something like that.  The snare on 'The Curse/Enveloped In Thorns' is whiplash inducing.  Briefly, in the second half, the band throws in some groove but it never slows down but instead pushes the song to a new level of intensity.  Oh and that bass drop around the 3:21 mark?  Whaaaaat. 'Passage To Eternity,' offers one of the very few moments of respite on the album with a clean/acoustic instrumental.  This is actually a pretty killer track that doesn't sound out of place on the album even though it is very different.  They still add much energy to it as it goes on, even including some distortion.  A nice surprise.
The final track is a short outro/instrumental that displays a now familiar brutality but fades out near the end.  Whew.  Aftering listening to this album, I am both pumped up and exhausted.  What a damn fine death metal album.

ASCENDED DEAD's 'Evenfall of the Apocalypse,' is a must listen for fans of the extreme and uncompromising.