CONTAIGEON — Death At The Gates Of Delirium (review)

CONTAIGEON — Death At The Gates Of Delirium album cover Album · 2010 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Death At The Gates Of Delirium" is the debut full-length studio album by UK, Newcastle based death metal act Contaigeon. The album was independently released in June 2010 and distributed through their Bandcamp page. Contaigeon was formed in late 2008.

The music on the album is death metal with an unorthodox twist. The vocals are brutal (and varied within the confines of the genre) and appear a bit low in the mix, which gives the music a somber edge. The riffs are twisted and always dark and slightly dissonant. I´m reminded of Immolation, and when the music is most muddy and bleak, the Australian death metal oddballs in Portal comes to mind. The music on "Death At The Gates Of Delirium" is more easily accessible than most of the demanding output of Portal though. On the band´s Bandcamp page, it says that the album is dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft (American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction (1890 - 1937)) and Zdzislaw Beksinski (Polish painter, photographer and sculptor 1929 - 2005)) and bearing those influences in mind, it´s no surprise that the music on "Death At The Gates Of Delirium" comes off as pretty obscure and unconventional.

One of the great things about "Death At The Gates Of Delirium" is the fact that there´s a good balance between the obscure and the accessible. There are plenty of hooks and memorable moments featured in the material, but it´s not presented with easy melodies or clean sung vocals. This is pretty old school, gritty, and dark all the way through. The musicianship is excellent throughout, but not flashy in a disturbing way. Contaigeon´s focus is on the obscure atmosphere.

The sound production is rather original and very succesful to my ears. With thousands of death metal releases coming out every year and only a very limited sound/style spectrum to work within, death metal albums have a tendency to sound very much the same. There are of course always a couple of different production styles that are popular at certain points in time, but few of them are timeless. I´d call the sound on "Death At The Gates Of Delirium" both timeless and unique and that´s quite the achivement for an album that is not backed up by a label.

Contaigeon enter the death metal scene with a bang with this debut album, and if you´re a fan of the more obscure and dark brutal death metal acts in the genre I can highly recommend "Death At The Gates Of Delirium". The fact that such a great album is offered up for free download unfortunately says something about the lack of support the more daring and adventurous bands get from labels these days. I hope for Contaigeon that a label picks up "Death At The Gates Of Delirium" for a re-release in physical form. They deserve it. I´ll definitely be following the band in the coming years to see what this very promising start will bring. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.
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