Shub-Niggurath - A Deadly Call from the Stars
It has been a decade-and-a-half since the last Shub-Niggurath album, 1997’s amazing The Kinglike Celebration (Final Aeon on Earth). In the interim, there have been demo/EP compilations (actually, kind of the same one three times, with or without various bonus tracks), and two splits consisting of rehearsal songs from 1990. So, I had long ago assumed that this wretched world would never again know the majesty of any new material from the Mexican Death Metal masters. It feels good to be wrong sometimes! Julio Viterbo (The Chasm, ex-Cenotaph) has at long last reignited the black flame of this band, and brought original Shub drummer Paco back with him. I just don’t get good news like this every day, and was absolutely overjoyed to discover it. Admittedly, I was also slightly concerned that original vocalist Arturo “Transcosmic Blasphemizer” Alvarez had been replaced, but no one could ask for more than what the new screamer, Carlos Lopez (ex-Ancient Gods, Thy Only Forgotten), delivers with his tormented, raspy, roar. It so completely fits the ominous, eerie atmosphere of the music, that I almost want to say that he’s better than Arturo, but that hardly seems possible. And speaking of the music, there is the perfect amount of Black Metal influence, perhaps slightly more than before, to make this Death Metal onslaught unique, and instantly recognizable, to me at least. It sounds as if Julio has been perfecting these riffs for a decade, as there is not anything even slightly resembling a flaw to be found on this album. If, upon learning of its existence, you didn’t immediately feel the need to hear A Deadly Call from the Stars as soon as humanly possible, then you simply don’t matter.
(1) Comment(s)
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mordents said:
Thanks for the review. This album is incredible. The mexicans do it again. WOO HOO!!!
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