Blaspherian
Allegiance To The Will Of Damnation (Reissue)
5.7
Allegiance to the Will of Damnation is the 2007 debut EP from Texas outfit Blaspherian. For those who failed to obtain one of the 666 copies of the original vinyl pressing or a copy of the 2008 CD pressing, Deathgasm Records has re-issued Allegiance to the Will of Damnation yet again, this time including two bonus tracks and the Summoning the Infernal Hordes demo. With three pressings in four years, one might assume that Allegiance to the Will of Damnation is a hot commodity. After listening to the album, however, I am doubtful that the demand for Blaspherian’s rudimentary doom-infused death metal is all that high.
If there is one thing that can be said for Blaspherian’s music, it is that it is heavy as Hell. The sounds of guitarist Wes Infernal and bassist Joe Necro merge into one dark, heaving rumble that owes as much to sludge as it does to death metal. Unfortunately, when it comes to wielding this impressive wall of sound, Blaspherian is a little short on interesting ideas. In the EP’s slower moments such as in “Prayer For Satanic Hate,” the band does a nice job of developing some subtle melodic themes, but all too often, Blaspherian chugs and gallops through serviceable but pedestrian death metal riffs. In the absence of any lead guitar presence or anything resembling a vocal hook, there is little to raise Blaspherian’s performance above a middling level. The EP is further hampered by substandard drum production that leaves the bass drum largely inaudible.
The two bonus tracks offer only more of the same quality performance, and the Summoning the Infernal Hordes demo features four of the five tracks from the EP with marginally poorer production.
As I am a fan of lead-heavy, overtly Satanic death metal, Blaspherian does hit the right spot for me on occasion, but I would not recommend buying Allegiance to the Will of Damnation until you have filled all the holes in your Incantation collection.
