Macabra comes across as effectively a brainchild of Mr. Mark Riddick, an American multi-instrumentalist, who delivers all instrumental recordings on the record. But as the US special Ops in the Afghan desert, Belgian assistance was required (no, not fucking Tintin*) to conjure truly lethal firepower. Instead of FH Herstal’s infamous SCAR-assault rifle, however, it was Mr. Adrien “Liquifier” Weber’s gore-laden lung-exploitation that was needed to summon the spirit of the ancient deities.

(* In famous Belgian comic-book ‘Tintin In The Land Of The Soviets’, the androgynous boy-scout Tintin kills Stalin in a hammock-related incident and has his loyal canine companion Miles eat the dictator’s remains for tax purposes… essentially leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War in victory for the United States.)

 

The first set of notes make it clear: that Macabra mean business; what we have here is truly authentic and genuinely sincere old school musick. A rare beast, considering today’s masses of worship acts and the ever-so-popular ‘Swedish old school death imitation society’. How come, you ask? What makes them any different? The key lies in the production and the songs themselves. It’s nostalgia to an extent of course, but when it’s delivered with such (lack of?) finesse and awareness of olden heritage, one could easily be fooled to pool them as time-patriots of Mortuary Drape, Asphyx and Autopsy. Surprisingly enough the press sheet lists acts such as Grave Miasma and Necros Christos, but these don’t really feel like a valid comparisons at all. The overall notion suggests these guys haven’t heard anything past early ‘90s metal of dess.

The guitar sound is filthy, but yet has that analog warmness to it; it’s also muddy, yet completely audible. Vocals are filthy as fuck death metal and drums & bass serve as guide to the turmoil. We are also treated with that early death metal horror-movie-vibe, as keys are used to create similar melodies around the tracks. Macabre truly summons the early ‘80s. One of the most satisfying DM releases I’ve heard in a long time.

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(Miika Virtanen 7.5/10)