Finland’s Purtenance were initially formed at the end of the eighties as Purtenance Avulsion. There wasn’t but one demo under that moniker. In 1991, the band changed its name into the current one, and they released the grandiose Crown Waits The Immortal EP, which was one of my favourite EP’s that very same year (back then, tapes and vinyl were ‘hot’, CD’s didn’t exist yet), followed in 1992 by the full length debut Member Of Immortal Damnation. Both of them were released via Spanish label Drowned, run by Dave Rotten, the same guy who now runs Xtreem Music – do you see the eternal connection?... Sweet it is, not?... The band split up after the release of their debut, but Purtenance reformed last year, and recorded the (heavily disappointing) EP Sacrifice The King via, indeed, Xtreem Music.
This new Purtenance-full length was recorded by original members Juha and Harri, and two musicians with the name Ville. It lasts for thirty eight minutes and differs from last year’s mini for being filled with stronger compositions, that do convince. Sacrifice The King lacked of balls, but that’s not the case with this full length.
The untitled intro is based on cello and keyboards, and since I am a fan of dark-tuned ambience, I can appreciate it a lot – but it has nothing to do with the core of Purtenance’s business, so let’s keep it with: great introduction, now enjoy the splatter! And splatter it is! The first ‘song’ lasts for less than half a minute and is nothing but a (great, no, an excellent Grind-piece). As from then on, Awaken From Slumber brings the most nasty and cannibalistic form of Gore / Grind / Death brutality, containing lots of changes in tempo and melody (beware: ‘melody’ isn’t but a hypothetic definition of some specific instrumentally-added structures…). And it sounds ‘Old Skool’, but of the most lovely Finland-based kind (Funebre, Demigod, Convulse and lesser known acts like Depravity, Cartilage or God Forsaken / Putrid included). Also Rottrevore, early Bolt Thrower, Carnage, Autopsy and Incantation might have played an influence throughout the recording sessions.
One remark: the production / sound. What the f*ck???... Those drums? The thin guitar leads? The underestimated bass patterns? It’s disappointing, because this album could have been an end year’s list candidate if only that production was done with more care. But in any case, I do recommend it to every adept of Finnish and international grinding Death-Doom filthiness!