Album Review: Consecration – Reanimated
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Our sometimes European or Global travels inspecting the varying records of 2021 now brings us back home in the UK, more specifically from Norwich where Consecration hail. Formed in 2010 the band released their first E.P. titled Gut The Priest but it wouldn’t be until 2014 where the band would at last release their first full length album, Ephemerality. Fragilium, their second album, would follow suit in 2019 but following on from that is where we find ourselves now. Reanimated stands as the band’s first E.P. since they initially unveiled themselves. It’d been some time since I had reviewed an E.P. which can be a nice change of pace sometimes, as opposed to forever checking out a longer piece of work. The band’s overall sound is one that evokes death/doom but considering how many bands can play death/doom in a faster way I knew the only way of pinning down Consecration’s identity was by actively experiencing Reanimated for myself. Time to return back down to the UK and sit back to some British death/doom.
This E.P. has a very live ambiance to its performance. I think the primary reason for this is the strong bass presence the band permeate, it’s not that the band possess a super crushing soundscape where each riff comes down on us like a cement block. The overall impact and tone the riffs deliver is substantial however you’re always able to feel like you can breathe as the band play, it’s not like you feel your shoulders being continuously pressed down by some overburdening weight, the Bass creates an aesthetic that is really satisfying to experience. It’s like entering a venue then just hearing the band’s sound check or hearing the set list play from outside. Having not experienced a live gig since March last year, it’s a sensation I really connected with throughout this E.P. The bass herein creates a bubble that encapsulates the rest of the band’s performance, enabling their sound to keep bouncing off the walls of the bass to rebound to us. As a result it doesn’t crush as much as it envelops.
Carrying on with this notion of tone, it’s nicely satisfying to recognise how the riffs haven’t merely been primed to just brutalise us from the first moment. We acknowledge how the riffs are heavy, they indeed carry weight but that weight feels like it’s been hollowed out whereby when they keep hitting us at their steady but oncoming tempo, it’s not like we’re having to try and keep ourselves standing straight all the while the presence of such riffs keeps buckling us from underneath. I felt like I was able to fully take in the riffs and methodical track progressions without needing to catch my breath if you will, by removing the fat of their riffs the band have managed to create a guitar performance that’s encroaching and laden with doom yet doesn’t feel like such a chore to carry with you.
Vocally I feel like there is the most to enjoy here. The vocals possess many similarities to the guitar work in the respect that they have a considerable strength behind them which the E.P. doesn’t fail to bring to your attention however the vocals aren’t weighing heavily on your senses. They haven’t been mixed in so completely or at the back of the E.P.’s sound that they’ve been drowned out by the riffs, they’re clearly at a decent forefront of the overall performance. What separates these vocals from other death/doom acts lately is that greater leniency towards the doom side of things. The vocals aren’t bearing down on you and striking you with abject tone, instead their frontman is allowing his low, baritone range to accentuate syllables thereby crafting a stronger, droning vocal performance where that doom aesthetic bleeds into the band’s performance with more fervent vitality. It’s a quality death/doom vocal performance because through the vocals, the band best demonstrate that they’re not just playing darker doom metal that’s simply sped up as I’ve heard from a menagerie of death/doom bands this year, they’re serious about creating an atmosphere you can immerse yourself in.
In conclusion I found this E.P. to be a rather invigorating and entertaining listen. With three tracks around the 6/7 minute mark I can confidently say I was never dulled or felt out of touch with what the band were giving me. That live aesthetic the E.P. possesses really helped fill a hole that a lack of experienced live music lately has created (of course owing to recent global events) which as a result I took to really happily. The riffs have great strength but don’t make us feel like we’re having to suffer for their brutality, they’re nicely manageable and digestible which can similarity also be said for the vocals too which come off with refined and well controlled vigour. Ultimately this E.P. succeeds because it understands coherently how to restrain itself, and ensure the audience receives the best the band can give them. All in all this was a nice surprise and I’ll be assured to keep an eye open for Consecration’s next album which hopefully, because of this E.P.’s release, won’t be too far off the horizon.
