Gorephilia - Severed Monolith

Published February 21 2017

*=Staff's pick	Interplanar Hellfire* Harmageddon Of Souls Words That Solve Problems Black Horns* The Ravenous Storm Return To Dark Space Eternity Crushed Under The Weight Of God*

Genre	Death Metal	Nemesis	Vocals
Tracks	9	Jukka Aho	Guitar
Running time	42 Min.	Pauli Gurko	Guitar
Label	Dark Descent Records	Tami Luukkonen	Bass
Release	March 3, 2017	Kauko Kuusisalo	Drums
Country	Finland	-	Keyboard
Producer	---
Similar bands	Incantation, Immolation, Desecresy

I do have a soft spot for the Finnish black and death metal scenes. It might partially be due to my heritage, partly due to the fact that the Finns have managed to create distinct sounds within both these scenes. The Finnish death metal, for instance, typically revolves around a creepy low-tempo sound with eerie lead guitars.

Gorephilia's second album 'Severed Monolith' matches that sound quite well, yet still strikes me as a bit of an odd bird within this scene. This album is built upon a solid Incantation/Immolation-base which makes it a bit out of place compared to other Finnish bands, both old and new. Still, 'Severed Monolith' is far from your average Incantation worship/copy piece. The eerie leads of other Finnish acts such as Desecresy and Krypts are distinctly present on this one, as well as influences from both the Stockholm and Florida scenes. There are even some minor space rock influences to be found.

In a time where old-school influenced death metal bands are fifteen a dozen, Gorephilia stands out by combining these influences to successfully create something that bears enough variation to avoid being either monotonous or a carbon copy. Apart from this, the performance is well executed and the songwriting bears a maturity and a thought. Every song has a distinct identity despite the narrow framework within which Gorephilia operates.

Even though the songwriting is good it is not yet in a state of being very good or awesome. 'Severed Monolith' has the advantage of being fairly original and well-executed and there is potential for the songs signed Gorephilia to become even better in the future. If you belong to the soft-for-Finland crowd or just wants to see Incantation-styled death metal taken in another direction, I recommend you give this a spin or two.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	7	6	7	6

Summary
6 chalices of 10 - Tengan