Vastum - Orificial Purge (2019)^{Release ID: 13542}

Vastum are a band I'm coming to a bit late in the day and I have really been missing out. Modern death metal (with a few notable exceptions) usually leaves me underwhelmed, but these San Franciscans seem to have dropped out of a wormhole from the late 80s or early 90s with their loose, liberated style, the occasional tempo drop for a welcome doom death break and it's shunning of technicality, instead focussing on the crushing power of it's riffs to achieve the necessary levels of heaviness. One of, if not the, best death metal albums of the year.

Album number four from San Francisco's Vastum follows the same six song structure that has become their trademark album length over the past eight years.  Another new face enters the Vastum fold in drummer Chad Gailey (Necrot) and his attendance is most definitely noticeable from the off as he thunders his way through album opener Dispossessed In Rapture (First Wound).  The track has its moments but unfortunately does largely just pass me by.  The lead work seems almost a hurried after thought and the sound as a whole feels a tad too rushed and urgent.  As with their previous outing there is an element of chanting here also on the track which does work well again.

Track two charges off in a much more fast paced direction than is common with Vastum's historically slower take on DM.  When it does settle down to a more familiar pace, I on the Knife (Second Wound) chugs along nicely with the odd sudden upturn in pace keeping things interesting.  When at its slowest it is menacing and taunting with lead work that makes you tremble in its nefarious wail.  There's an element of disjointedness to the track though I feel which means it doesn't flow as naturally as it could and therefore some of its overall menace is lost.  Although shorter than the opening track it feels like it goes on longer somehow.

This feeling of a lack of cohesion is also present on Abscess Inside Us which I understand is trying to build as a song structure but it unfortunately comes across as a bit of a meandering plod which saps any semblance of energy from proceedings unfortunately.  Vocally, Leila and Daniel sound dangerous enough with the threat of evil intent ever present but even with Lermo's contribution on the lead work with Leila the track comes of as being a bit of a damp squib. 

The atmospheric intro to the title track is a new element to the band's sound and it creates an enveloping sense of ceremony nicely as the muttered chanting returns again to add to proceedings.  It does take up too much of the track though and limits the development of the track overall as a result.  The track shows lots of promise but seems to get going too late to realise it in full.  Reveries in Autophagia feels a little laboured from the off and we seem to have the same riff to accompany the majority of the tracks this time out.  Where are the exciting grooves from Hole Below?  They seem lost in favour of some spiralling pattern of riffs that fail to hold the attention as well as Vastum of old did.  The droney keys to His Sapphic Longing  and the bitter and scathing vocal contest between Leila and Daniel are the only real attention grabbing things about the closing track.

Overall, for a band who largely remain a go to group for my requirements for consistent, no nonsense and in your face DM, Orificial Purge feels purged of some genuine challenging DM.  It somehow all comes off as being safe or a bit stale, like the band have ran out of ideas after three largely solid releases.  The promise of looming menace is still there but that's the problem, it should be a threat  not just something that is alluded to.  I also have no idea what is going on with the artwork this time around either.