The promo blurb opens with “Death metal was meant to be an assault on the senses …” and this Australian quintet are certainly doing what they can to make sure their début album does exactly that. Granted there are moments of finesse that they can’t shy away from no matter how brutal the music happens to be when the lead solo’s kick in, but it’s also possible that the line of “extreme” keeps shifting as time progresses. As an example a friend suggested I listen to an ’80s thrash band he’d just found out about, which I’ve just done and while it’s most certainly ’80s thrash, it is also comparable to radio rock by my standards of today. So while Depravity are heavy and “brootal” as fuck, surely as time goes by they may not always be considered to be.

After the first introductory 40s of “Manic Onslaught”, you understand the reason for the song title as a wailing lead pierces through Jamie Kay’s low guttural roar and Louis Rando’s blistering drum tattoo.

Lynton Cessford and Jarrod Curly sound like they are tripping over each other on “Insanity Reality” but as the song fades out they finally work out their differences for a cohesive conclusion.

While “Repugnant” builds quickly to be very fast paced with a SYLesque feel to the rapidly changing drum patterns.

“Despondency” has a rather stop-start approach to the rhythm, not quite staccato but enough to throw you and keep you on your toes as it never quite settles into a regular pattern.

Slow gentle guitars accompany the rumbling of Ainsley Watkins’s bass on “The Great Divide” until the drums blast off and everything becomes completely manic, but with a touch of unexpected melody when the guitars slow down again.

Wasting no time at all, “Victimizer” immediately blasts off with hyper fast kick drumming and snare beating while the guitars race through their riffs to give the abrasive vocals something to follow.

The finesse I mentioned above is abundantly clear in “Tormented” where the layers of melodic guitar are hidden just below the intense riffs and pounded drums, but still managing to shine illustriously when breaking into the lead solo before being dragged under the onslaught of anger to end the song.

The title track, “Evil Upheaval” happens to be the shortest on the album and also happens to have the catchiest chorus to it, reminiscent of early Deicide where you can’t help but bob your head as you croon along.

While starting off all sweet and gentle “Vile Defloration” is anything but, however the lead is extremely impressive as the pace remains lumbering even though the guitars becoming far more aggressive until they are spent.

Definitely a fun album to lift the spirits and welcome the sun. 🙂

(8/10  Marco Gaminara)

http://www.facebook.com/Depravitydestroy

https://depravityaustralia.bandcamp.com/album/evil-upheaval-death-metal