Cincinnatian death metal connoisseur FAITHXTRACTOR has produced a fine cluster of releases since its formation in 2015. Renowned for its burgeoning approach to the genre, the band has a knack and especial finesse for executing high-quality audial onslaughts - an approach that was critically-acclaimed in the band's previous release in 2019, "Proverbial Lambs to the Ultimate Slaughter" - that root deep in your soul. It therefore comes as little surprise that the latest full-length, "Contempt for a Failed Dimension" is just as, if not more, impressive than the last, and the long-standing astounding aspect - and one that had me virtually dumbstruck when listening to the newest instalment in the band's fine catalogue - is the unmatched capability of this infinitely talented, deadly duo who possess an arsenal of sinister metallic weaponry that just gets better and better.

It's not often that I feel lost for words, but, alas, reviewing leaves little option but to try and convey HOW fantastic the seismic fourth full-length opus from FAITHXTRACTOR is. In the spirit of transparency and my unending passion for exceptional metal, the most simplistic emotive description I can provide you is that I feel like I've been transported to another dimensional plane and had my insides blown outward with the sheer intensity and quality of musicianship I've witnessed. The moment the first riff hit me in the glorious rabidity of "Vomiting Proclamation", I jumped onto FAITHXTRACTOR's Bandcamp and snapped up the 'vomit green' variant to add to my never-ending vinyl collection (a pastime that has made me indefinitely musically rich and left me infinitely financially poor, but it's all good). It's official, "Contempt for a Failed Dimension" has achieved something that I sporadically experience: love at first listen.

If you want a death metal album that offers a relentless, merciless assault through a plethora of complexities across a spectrum of mood cycles, "Contempt for a Failed Dimension" is for you. The overall feel of the record falls somewhere within a succulent mix of IMMOLATION, DEICIDE, BLOODBATH and ENTOMBED, with the tracks ranging in stylistic from lingering, sullen creeping, all the way through to the outright deranged and maniacal, with FAITHXTRACTOR always ensuring its delivery is intensely furious and captivating with little room for reprieve. The gut-churn groove of "Life Abnegation" lends a little Swedeath influence and buries its unapologetic earworm deep into your lugs, with "Relative First Occurrence" following suit, offering sensational arrangements of blistering solos, brutal blasts, and an enriched bass line that makes you feel like you need a good scrub afterwards. The impressive protracted vocal display in "Revenge Void Asphyxia" will mesmerise you, and the track's melodic subtleties and constant snarling aloofness are asphyxiatingly brilliant.

Sincerely, I'm doing my level best to do "Contempt for a Failed Dimension" justice, but try as I might, there's a natural sense of inferiority that emanates as a writer when you review something THIS fantastic. It feels virtually impossible to describe how incredible "The Blood that Seethes" sounds in all its sanguine, visceral glory and how organically the blastbeats meld with the richly projected gutturals that are fortified with a seemingly natural panoramic affinity of vocal tone and virtuosity. Perhaps my personal grapple with explaining the brilliance of "Contempt for a Failed Dimension" stems from the fact that it's literally next-level, especially in the effortlessly soaring, malevolent instrumentals of "On Every Breath...a Curse" with its alluringly sinister hypnosis, or maybe my struggle derives from the difficulty to tell you how awe-inducing the record's innate synergy is in its entirety. The only possible analogy I can use to convert what I'm hearing into words - to reach anywhere near to something articulate - is that it's like a beautiful, complex puzzle, and that each track slots together in complete symbiosis, so that when you finally arrive at the sublime cover of SEPULTURA's "Empire of the Damned", you've created a perfect, complete picture of FAITHXTRACTOR's latest work.

Sharp and impressive production enhances the punishing efforts of "Contempt for a Failed Dimension" to perfection, elevating the record to other worldly realms, with FAITHXTRACTOR having manifested a full-length of sorcerous opium for the ears. This is the easiest 'full-house' I've ever given.<