Rebel Souls - Dawn of Depravity (2022)

The sophomore Rebel Souls outing sees the German/Spanish act digging deeper into that aggressive balance they struck on their 2017 debut The Forces of Darkness, falling somewhere between the brutal and technical edges of the death metal spectrum, capable of both extremes but never diving too far off either cliff. Instead, we get that same songwriting emphasis we hear from many of the acts in the Polish scene, a comparison I've drawn before in this particular case, that holds even truer here than the previous disc. This is a band that shows a love and knowledge of their genre and executes that with an expertly wrought amalgamation of evil riffing, intense drumming, over-the-top leads and enough variation that you'll never get bored listening through this, even if there's nothing about it that stands out as strikingly original.

The production here is mint, perfectly clear but allowing for an ample impact of the crunching mid paced riffs as they vault back and forth with the outbursts of blasting and tremolo-picked madness. I liken them a lot to Vader, one of my favorite bands, but a lot of the riffing structures throughout tunes like "Poisoner of the Harvest" and "Sea of Crises" definitely recall American bands like Deicide, Malevolent Creation and Morbid Angel. The bass lines are fat and agile enough to stand out from the rhythm guitar brickwork while never intruding upon the endless barrage of riffs, and the drumming of Arnau Martí is as patently absurd as it is professional; the footwork and blasts are worthy of almost any of his peers, but he's always got some nice beats and fills to help support the breakdowns and grooves so they're never mired down in tedious repetition. Stefan Hielscher's vocals definitely have a bit of the guttural Glen Benton/David Vincent style to them, but they layer them up with some solid backups or multi-tracking to once again hover above the din of monotony or predictability.

There isn't a large dynamic in song quality, most of them flow around the same level: exciting, with all-around admirable musicianship and breakout leads that bore them a little deeper into your memory. I wouldn't say it's always the catchiest material riff-for-riff, but just an overall sort of package which you can depend on for the full 42 minutes of its existence. I'm actually going to nudge Dawn of Depravity slightly past The Forces of Darkness, it's a little more 'veteran', polished and extreme and confident, but at the same time I wouldn't say it's that much of a songwriting leap beyond its predecessor. Easily recommendable to fans of Polish acts like Vader or Behemoth, or the Floridian forebears that I mentioned earlier. No bullshit, no gimmicks, non-trendy death metal which earns its marks in all the important departments for this style, timeless blunt force ear-to-brain flossing with enough musicality to endure.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

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