Album Review: Heriot - Devoured by the Mouth of Hell
Reviewed by Eric Clifford
Some albums are body blows; thrown with malice to burst marrow free of ribs, mean-spirited, hammering organs into amorphous masses of tender contusions. It’s an abstruse thing to pin down, but some albums have a physicality to them, a rough-hewn heavyweight brawn that they hurl around with vicious intent. This is one of those albums; Summoning in the sort of bottomless contempt I typically get from my wife when I come to bed drunk at 3am, “Devoured by the Mouth of Hell” is sickeningly heavy, a creature of relentless grooves that thud home with an assertive disregard for your bodily integrity.
Much of what Heriot does here is leverage the sheer mass they wield to simply obliterate; at its best, the weight of it is unstoppable. The best tracks here, such as single “Siege Lord”, pace their assault. Ethereal atmospherics wreathe the song, and a Goliath bass riff ratchets the tension up before a monstrous chorus devastates your eardrums. Full marks here go to vocalist/guitarist Debbie Gough, who deploys an outrageously spiteful banshee screech. The vengeful ghosts of all those who died unjustly appear to have taken residence in her vocal chords, and every time she opens her mouth the sum total of their rage pours forth in a scalding howl that I absolutely adored. Which isn’t to suggest that screaming is all she brings to the table; tracks like “Lashed” meld industrial soundscapes with sorrowful clean vocals reminiscent of someone like Chelsea Wolfe to beautiful effect, adding a much needed element of variation to the album.
“Harm Sequence” – the fastest track on the album – is an excoriating blast, surging forth on a kick-snare thrash beat that leaves you feeling like you got caught in the epicentre of an orbital bombardment. At peak, this release is completely possessed by apoplectic fury, and utterly destructive for it.
At it’s worst though, the reliance on low-slung beatdown groove becomes a touch wearing. Songs like “Solvent Gaze” aren’t offensive, but do feel underdeveloped, bringing little to the table that isn’t done better elsewhere. It consists for the most part of airy atmospherics and a very basic breakdown. Heavy? Aye, beyond contention, but so is much else on the album, and in comparison to the rest of the work presented here “Solvent Gaze” simply doesn’t stand out. Breakdowns – irrespective of what the cringeworthy kvlter-than-thou contingent might argue – absolutely have a place in metal, but when a very similar breakdown pattern to the one on “Solvent Gaze” is reheated for closing track “Mourn” then I don’t think it’s unreasonable to wonder if something a tad more inventive would’ve served the song better.
“Devoured by the Mouth of Hell” is ultimately an album that I can see resonating with a lot of people; fans of bands like Code Orange, Knocked Loose, or Malevolence would likely find much to love here, it’s pure envenomed heaviness is beyond reproach. For a substantial quantity of the runtime I feel like I’m being run over, then reversed over, and then finally the owner of the car comes out to stamp on me a bit for denting his front licence plate. It can be caustic, absolutely withering, and especially for the multitudes among us who enjoy modern metalcore I’d say it completely warrants your attention.
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