UMUR
"Age of the Wicked" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, New York based death metal act Pyrexia. The album was released through Unique Leader Records in January 2007. It´s been 10 years since the release of "System of the Animal" from 1997, but while the band didn´t release anything in those years other than the "Cruelty Beyond Submission" compilation in 2004, they were far from inactive as they teamed up with Trevor Peres (Obituary) in 2000 and released "The Cleansing (2001)" album under the Catastrophic monicker. It was a relatively short lived project though and band leader/guitarist Chris Basile soon opted to continue with the Pyrexia name instead. Basile is the only remaining original member of the band, and in fact he is also the only remaining member of the lineup who recorded the predecessor.
Somehow the material on "Age of the Wicked" still sound like Pyrexia though. Brutal technical death metal with a hardcore edge. The latter is as dominant an influence here as it was on "System of the Animal (1997)". An integral part of the band´s sound. While Pyrexia are probably tired of being compared to Suffocation, it is the most obvious reference, although the hardcore influences are more audible when it comes to Pyrexia. The vocals are for example not conventional growling, but more a combination of growling and deep aggressive hardcore shouting (no screaming core vocals) and many of the heavy grooves are also hardcore influenced, although they are presented in a death metal context.
The material on the 10 track, 30:04 minutes long album is relentless in its intensity and brutality. It´s like being punched in the face throughout the full playing time. There´s not a second wasted on breathers, and it´s almost impossible to sit still while being treated to one aggressive and groove laden brutal track after another. It´s sharp, it´s hard edged, and it´s furious and raw...but it´s also a bit one-dimensional. Not that the band aren´t good at incorporating tempo changes and breaks, but it´s still not an album where the tracks stand out much.
It´s not a major issue and the band have also wisely kept the playing time at half an hour, which means the album doesn´t overstay its welcome, but a little more variation and hook laden moments wouldn´t have been a negative. "Age of the Wicked" features high level musicianship and a raw and well sounding production, so while there is a small issue with the songwriting being a bit one-dimensional, it´s still a quality release deserving a 3.5 star (70%) rating.