Album Review: Construct of Lethe – A Kindness Dealt In Venom
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
Construct of Lethe are quite an interesting band. Since the band's formation they have created a small yet extremely impressive back catalogue of material. With two full length records and an EP under their belt already they have crafted an extremely dark and dissonant style of blackened death metal, which they take a note from the past yet ensure they add their own twist and modernise the sound without taking away from the key elements of the death metal sound.
A Kindness Dealt in Venom is a brand new collection of material which has seen the band look to expand on what they have previously created and advance their sound into new territories. What Construct of Lethe have really pushed heavily with A Kindness Dealt in Venom is a bigger sounding product with much more emphasis on the workings within the background of the songs. Where the bands earlier sound which knelt heavily on the sounds of an act like Immolation this new selection of tracks has really seen the band come into their own creativity and has seen them almost stop imitating and start being themselves. I hear it with the more chaotic arrangements, there is a lot more to unwrap and understand with this new record, and it really does require your full attention.
Now stripping back to bare bones the band still maintain their razor sharp use of solid riffs which one minute are ripping your face off and the next twisting into a more uncomfortable, more sinister atmosphere, and these transitions and the way those sinister areas have seen tweaked are where you see the band really come into their own. The lead work is still very much apparent and executed excellently where positioned. Kishor Haulenbeek who is the new frontman on this record is also a huge factor in how this new release has shown growth, as the vocals have a really huge influence on the overall feel of the record, with a very nice and extremely well executed mixture of vocal stylings. The band have also kept sections of more spoken word style vocals which featured on previous albums and is a part of the band's vocal arrangement that I have enjoyed.
This new record is a twisting maze of blackened death metal. Construct of Lethe continue to showcase their fantastic creativity and have elevated themselves in terms of how they have composed this new full length. It's definitely a record to get familiar with and if you are not already familiar with the band gives you a great starting point for you to discover the bands older work.
