Metal maniacs, rejoice! I'm proud to present to you: ETERNAL DIRGE; signed via Unspeakable Axe Records, hailing from the glory of Germany - performing Death Metal, on their compilation double album entitled "Morbus Ascendit/Demos" (released September 29^th, 2017).

Since formation in 1986; the quintet in question have 2 studio albums in their entire discography, I'm introduced to their 1^st album "Morbus Ascendit" - bundled with some of their earlier demos for good measure. 18 tracks ranging at around 86:85; the quartet deliver an intricately designed formula of menacingly hard-hitting components of savagely sinister Death/Black Metal amalgamations, starting off with the corrupted opening of "Out Of The Eons", the first track of the record provides dastardly distinctions of deadly galloping riffs and shrieking vocalization combined with deep, guttural growling that certainly packs a punch. Timo Knopf on both vocals/guitar utilizes a diverse array of tormenting complexity, "The Crawling Chaos" portrayed a distinguished variety in the Death / Black sub-genres that had a unique juxtaposition to it. Incredibly, he can grunt as well as scream with a jointly balanced characteristic to it - while being flexibly dextrous on guitar too.

Consisting of powerhouse bassist Karsten "Boehni" Boehnke who contributes an efficient amount of pulverizing malevolence, "Exploring The Depths" showcased consistent arrangements of old school Death / Black Metal developments in similar contrast to bands of that era. Groovy drum pummeling from Ralf Schönberg sufficiently pounds his set with relentless extremity, as "Blind Idiot God" conveyed blistering yet explosive drum pedaling compiled with organic aesthetics of consecutively thunderous dexterity from second guitarist Patrick Kalla. "The Decadence Within" demonstrated more diligent hostility; the raw intensity in the instrumentation and musicianship is devastatingly immense, there is a lot of bouncy rhythms while circling with maddening solos and dominated supremacy. "We Are The Dead" has an enlightening foundation of punch line, chaotic mayhem that just produced a massively crunchy element of destruction in its wake.

Keyboardist Sascha Risseler implemented a nicely atmospheric integration that proficiently implodes with the devilish songwriting adroitness that promptly inputs unprecedented substances into the mix, while in songs like "Sinusitis Maxillaris" mechanizes technically hasty velocity in which has a crusty defiance built in that is just elegantly solid. "Evolved Mutations" is a stampede of battering maliciousness in which collectively fuses all aforementioned attributes into one neat track. "Arachnophobia" is a bolt throwing clap of exquisitely mid-tempo, swerving haste that gallops with brutal orchestrations - including a crushing array of bass strumming at the beginning, and a substantial amount of tasty riffs in which jump with tasty executions. "Paralyzed" exhibits more of that phenomenal demo-like sound production delicacy, and has a tasteful writing technique, which has a dedicated ramification equality to it - certainly not for the faint of heart.

Continuing on with "Contaminated Void", the speedy swiftness forges with brisk and berserk perseverance and embodies my soul with a demonic tenancy to thrash my being - it's a motivating track, as is "The Conclusion Of Iniquity". The titular track serves as a frolicking, overpowering solidity and showcases a prolific amount of creative craftsmanship. "Why Have All The Children Died" concludes the record, and then following suit with some demo version of previous tracks.

Overall - amidst the split up of ETERNAL DIRGE, Unspeakable Axe Records have revived the band to give newcomers a taste of some old-school robustness that's profusely entertaining. Worth checking out that's for sure.<