SEPULCHRAL CURSE is a death metal band from Finland who formed in 2013. "Abhorrent Dimensions," is their second full length album. They have also released four EPs. "Abhorrent Dimensions" is an album that is the definition of how a band should follow up a debut full length—this album is miles better than ‘Only Ashes Remains.’ That says a lot because that album was damn fine in its own right. But the band improves on every element that one had and ups the game tenfold on this new one. The atmosphere is even hellish and sulphuric too, making for a journey that is as harrowing as it is engaging.

What makes this album so special is that every song offers at least one section that screams, “That was badass and I must hear it again!’ It took me so long to listen to this album in full because I kept rewinding all the ‘wow’ moments that I came across. That makes the replay factor of "Abhorrent Dimensions" among the best I’ve heard this year. The fact the band wrote such an extreme album that is also this damn likable is a testament to their songwriting skills.

The album opens with "Onward The Legions" and it really does feel like the jumping off point for an assault upon the senses. The low grunts are absolutely maddening and just what I want for this style of death metal. The music is extreme, abrasive and unforgiving but it doesn’t do all that for the sake of it. This, as is the album as a whole, is a smartly written death metal song that offers many treasures. One example of this is when the song slows down around the 2:30 mark and the bass pops out from behind the riffs. This leads to another section with methodical riffs and clever drums as the song very subtly begins to ramp back up to the caustic destruction that preceded it.

"Among The Wretched Columns" is a towering song and by the twenty second mark I was already transported to a very encompassing world. Around the one minute mark, the band slows down for just a few seconds to squeeze in a darkly atmospheric passage that makes the tight rifting that follows even more intense. And that bass continues to impress, it's as heavy as anything else in the song yet remains distinct. The ending of the song sends it to new heights, like a demon reaching out of its prison. "Stagnant Waters," is anything but and is very immediate with the guitar's riffs. The bass and drums lay a very solid foundation for the band to play off of, the layers all stacking on top of each to create a truly monstrous song. Around the halfway mark a blistering yet catchy solo rips through it and then a section where the band just pounds it out hits so hard that I almost fell over.

The title track ends the song and those beginning riffs are among the best on the album. Catchy, devastating, yet forward thinking enough to flow into the rest of the song. Around the halfway mark, the band lets their melodic section show through with blistering riffs and solos that lead into an oddly gorgeous section that mixes perfectly back into the mayhem. SEPULCHRAL CURSES’s "Abhorrent Dimensions" is one of the best death metal albums I’ve heard in the second half the year and an absolute banger of an album that has a depth many other bands can’t touch. Highly recommended.