Adversarial - Prophetic Plain of Abyssal Revelation EP (2011)

With last year's debut All Idols Fall Before the Hammer still fresh on the tongues of serpents and the ears of an unsuspecting populace, Canada's Adversarial have struck yet again, this time with a solid fan package through Dark Descent Records. Prophetic Plain of Abyssal Revelation collects the band's original Thralls demo (2008) in its entirety, plus a pair of covers, a new studio track and another gem from the vaults. If you're enamored of the full-length, then this material should certainly appeal to you, with only one redundancy ("Scourge of a World Ablaze") that is better experienced in the bolder incarnation of All Idols, though having this demo version available serves the purpose of completion.

The three demo tracks are rougher than the full-length, to be expected, but they're quite good, from the clean, creepy intros to the band's rifling accumulation of Morbid Angel's frenzied speed, whipping up infernal dust storms through their strict velocity. Most of this earlier material is pure, lightning death metal, but it has some black influence in the rasped vocals, those these are neither as prominent or well-executed as the gutturals. "Thralls" would be my favorite of the three, for the brilliant opening sequence that transforms into another hyperactive attack. The title track to this collection, "Prophetic Plain of Abyssal Revelation", was recorded in the same period, and has a similar structure, with a frightening, clean intro that is soon eclipsed by spastic, blasting madness, and I really love how the vocals resonate over the opening riffs. Fans of breakneck death like Hate Eternal, Posthumous Blasphemer and so forth will want to take note of this.

The cover songs included are of Archgoat's "The Light-Devouring Darkness" (from the album of the same name) and Incantation's "A Once Holy Throne" (from the 2002 album Blasphemy), both interesting selections of a more recent nature. The Archgoat is rugged and passable, but I definitely enjoyed "A Once Holy Throne", which creates a glorious change of pace for this release, slow and majestic, dire rhythms processed below the cavernous vocals. The new track, "Impending Eternal Blackness" is likewise quite good, with some moody melodic depth that morphs into a grinding, blasting vortex of diabolism, comparable in quality to the material on the full-length. Nothing mind numbing or enormously memorable, mind you, but very apt to impress fans of the raw Canadian legends like Blasphemy or Revenge, albeit with an added level of intricacy. In short, if you found All Idols Fall Before the Hammer fitting enough for your collection, then there's no reason to hold out on this.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.myspace.com/adversarialmusic

Adversarial - All Idols Fall Before the Hammer (2010)

Adversarial is a Canadian outfit performing a blend of vile, roots death and black metal not unlike an ungodly abomination of Morbid Angel, Deicide, Angelcorpse and Mayhem. Like their countrymen and lately label mates Begrime Exemious, they do this with a fluid hostility that successfully batters down the natural barriers found in the various sub-genres, so the listener will never once question how they were not always paired in a heathen union of unfettered extremity. Unlike Begrime Exemious, though, the trio of Adversarial use utter guttural vocals akin to Incantation or Demilich, and they tend to retain a high velocity throughout the entirety of this debut, All Idols Fall Before the Hammer.

Drums fly past with an earthen, natural tinniness to them which feels as if they were directed straight from a rehearsal room, cymbals and blasting snares at the forefront of the mix despite the incredible fortitude of their wielder E.K. (also of Horde of Worms, Twilight Hammer). The bass of Nuclearhammer's M.M. is a little harder to make out, since it blends in so well with the vapid six-string destruction of guitarist/vocalist C.S., but you'll still hear it from time to time, cavorting below the barbwire mesh of chaos riffing like a bull rhino repelling foolhardy African hunters from its watering holes. All together, these gentlemen summon forth a frenzy borne of hellish Northeasterly winds converging upon the suggested innocence of some god-fearing peoples, fusing into a tornado of blasphemy that uproots the local town hall and cathedral, thrashing them over the heads of the weak and wounded, women and worms.

This is hideous and grating material which will not satisfy the hungerer of accessibility nor melodic structures. Its fucking brute and barbarism, with the biggest concession being the band's eerie, occasional visit towards calmer evil like the glistening diabolism of the intro to "In a Night of Endless Pain, War Came to Flood His Heart...", coincidentally one of the coolest compositions here. "Scourge of a World Ablaze" also steps outside the band's discomfort zone of frenzied propulsion, with spooky clean guitars in the intro. "Death.Rot.Monolith" is also quite eerie, if only for the opening minute. Yet even in these holocaust desert oases, the storm is just around the corner, and much of the track list ("Churning the Storm", "Thralls", "Ruin Enshrined") blasts you into dust before you can even object to the mistreatment.

The devil is in the details with this record, and if you're annoyed by rambling, lo-fi production or the fuck-all concern for the listener's sanity or health, avoid at all costs. However, if can stomach its flattening displays of prowess, you will find some mesmerizing lattice of evil, old school riffs played at intense paces by the same man that is barking an extremely low-pitched prophecy of the end times, and his backing rhythm section are just as off their fucking rocker. Try to imagine if Australia's Portal performed in a more straightforward, less turbulent and discordant, but sped up commitment, and you will not be far from the truth of this debut, which is certain to turn a few heads, if not spin them off their necks outright into a chorus of mocking last breaths and blank, dead stares of disbelief.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/adversarialmusic