Album Review: Ravenous Death – Visions From the Netherworld
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
Hailing from Mexico Ravenous Death, play a brand of vintage death metal which is the definition of the term raw. Visions From The Netherworld which is the band's second full length release, see’s the four piece produce eleven tracks on ungodly blackened death metal which comes across as if it were spawned straight from the pits of hell.
From the opening Ravenous Death attack with a furious assault of crushing adrenaline driven blackened death metal. Bestial raging riffs and machine gun blastbeats drive through each track, with booming low guttural vocals adding to the crushing heaviness found throughout 'Visions From The Netherworld'.
Tracks like 'Gore Vault Dismemberment' and 'Serpents of Wretchedness' create a level of dissonant atmosphere which brings to the overall evil tone of the record. Ravenous Death also include a selection of slow, churning doom sections within the record which reach their peak on Visions From The Netherworld’s finale 'The Ascending Chasm'. The track which comes in at over 8 minutes is a beautifully crafted piece of ungodly death metal. 'Visions From The Netherworld' is a record which continues to improve the further you go into it. At times earlier in the record there are songs which even though they are well crafted tracks, some of them feel slightly too long due to the lack of variation in the structure. This is short lived and the further you go into the record the more additional elements Ravenous Death include into the structure of the tracks without diverting away from the core foundation.
'Visions From The Netherworld' will give you a serious dose of ugly, and uncompromising Death metal. Ravenous Death bring a collection of tracks where they provide the low churning sound very similar to acts such as Incantation and Immolation with a dash of Vader thrown in at times. Where the Mexican band are not a household name in death metal circles like those aforementioned bands, with 'Visions From The Netherworld' they have certainly proved they are able to hold their own and provide a savage display of dark and severe blacked death metal audio battery.
