Resurgency hail from the Greek city of Athens and spend their days playing death metal the olde way. The band’s line-up comprises two members of rising force Necrovorous, namely Tolis B on bass and the ever-busy Vagelis Felonis on drums. Guitar-work is handled by two dudes who’re both called George (however, only one of ‘em performs on this record), formerly of the now disbanded Stagnate. Founded in 2009 they sport a demo and a split under their belts, False Enlightenment being their debut album – 40 minutes of uncompromising death metal carnage (a.k.a. ten tracks, out of which three are re-recordings off their split with Swedes Desolator).
Old school’s the word, as we are fed darkened tunes, drawing influences fromSwedentoFlorida; a brutal ‘90s ‘assault from the past’. Then there’s that ever-present Immolation vibe – one of the key elements and, indeed, strengths. A glance at the band photo reveals Autopsy, Deicide, Kreator and Sadistic Intent as further influences…. all sprinkled with a modern brutal/guttural spice.
As you might have guessed, innovation ain’t a key word, as this is essentially a band using the same set of tools ‘n materials as their forefathers, forging something slightly different, but not as good. Alas, there’s simply no matching up to these gods. For today’s standards, however, Resurgency play excellent solid death metal, with every moment/riff carefully assembled. Attention has gone to avoiding bullshit and providing pure quality instead. Through this sort of QA the music sounds fresh and keeps this album interesting from beginning to end.
Living in times of yet another death metal boom, as we currently do, is not easy for a band like Resurgency. Despite their unquestioned musical ability and know-how, their efforts are unlikely to see glittering prizes and deserved praise. The scene is simply too oversaturated and even though the whole thing is incredibly ‘strong’ for what it is, the lack of ‘outside’ the box thinking let’s it down. Don’t get me wrong, this album is extremely entertaining. Instead of merely worshipping one band (best example being the Incantation-craze), several elements have been merged very convincingly – making False Enlightenment into one of the more intriguing output of the death boom.
(7/10 Miika Virtanen)
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