Philadelphia is churching out some amazing records lately. Between Nothing's Dance on the Blacktop and Outer Heaven's Realms of Eternal Decay, I haven’t been listening to much else. Today, I’m here to talk about the latter, a very filthy, heavy, and anticipated addition to the world of death metal.
I had originally seen Outer Heaven several years ago in Philadelphia, when they shared the same show with Praise and Mindset. It was a very odd pairing for them, but nonetheless, I was very excited to see a metal band on the bill. They definitely caught my attention. Also, they got bonus points from me for getting their name from Metal Gear Solid.
Realms of Eternal Decay is light years beyond anything this band has written in the past. Their first proper release, Diabolus Vobiscum, while promising, felt uninspired and unsure of what the group wanted to be.
That is not the case here. The material is faster, in your face, and much more polished than Outer Heaven's previous outings.
The tracks on Realms of Eternal Decay are shorter than your standard death metal songs which, while I love a good 6-8 dirge, I welcome the shorter bursts. It will leave both the crust punks with a short attention spans, and the headbanging metal freaks very pleased.
Standout songs include “Pulsating Swarm” and “Echoes from Beyond,” which burn the Incantation worship fire high. The D-beat and blast beat-heavy songs “Multicellular Savagery” and “Tortured Wind” — along with closing track “Decaying Realms” — might be my favorites, with the latter being very Suffocation influenced. The song finishes the album out with a classic fade out, which might be a standard ending to a death metal record, but it never gets old to me.
Outer Heaven proven here that they are a force to be reckoned with and have fully transformed into a beast of their own creation. If you’re looking for blistering, brutal heavy death metal, I can't recommend Realms of Eternal Decay enough.
Realms of Eternal Decay is out Oct. 12 via Relapse Records and can be pre-ordered here. Look for the band out on tour this fall with Full of Hell.
Tagged: outer heaven
