I was quite charmed by 2011’s Subliminal Visions, my first acquaintance with Polish band Deep Desolation, released via The End Of Time Records. So I was quite happy when the very same label, which has a very interesting roster lately, did send us the successor of Subliminal Visions, Rites Of Blasphemy. This new material was recorded on several moments in 2011, and produced and engineered once again by Mariusz Pikor (he worked with the likes of A.O.D. and Iugulatus as well, by the way), with co-production done by band leader Markiz.
FYI: in between both albums, Deep Desolation also released a split with two other great bands: Primal and Iugulatus, called Chapel Of Fear via this very same label…
Rites Of Blasphemy is a pretty lengthy eight-tracker, recorded by a somewhat different line-up (two members left, one new one, drummer Wilku, joined the crew). And as from the opening track, Between The Tits Of A Witch (hehe, what a title…), I am totally with them. This is a pure mixture of ultra-heavy Doom, filthy Sludge and occult Black Metal. It results in a monstrous production, an unstoppable wall of sound, yet without losing eye for detail. The stuff is quite melodic, despite the heaviness, and the whole gets spiced by some own-faced elements, cf. the weird synth passages, somewhat funky bass lines and sublime solo towards the end of this long track (it clocks nearly ten minutes). The strength of this opening track isn’t just a coincidence, for the next one, Searching For Yesterday, goes on in the very same vein. Actually, most tracks are pretty much alike in essence, with about the same ingredients, structure, result. But since these songs are quite long, and of a very high performance quality, they do stand on their own, in a mostly distinctive way, and still maintaining a specific coherence. Besides, with a Noise-intermezzo like Intermezzo (what an appropriate title it is…), Deep Desolation show their mostly artistic-creative side too. But, as mentioned, Deep Desolation combine slow yet heavy passages with dark, cold spheres, lots of impressive leads, and messages of misanthropy and blasphemy. For sure Rites Of Blasphemy is not the kind of album you’ll listen too when having your grandmother coming to dinner, or when making love to your (or someone else’s) wife (though… why not, actually?)…