Originally written by Kris Yancey
It’s business as usual at the Unique Leader camp, perhaps business-ier than usual given the recent Deeds of Flesh record dropping into the hands of death metal addicts like a pound of heroin complete with spoons and lighter, not to mention the recent end-of-the-year hullabaloo featuring (most notably) Decrepit Birth’s magnum-cock-sized opus Diminishing Between Worlds. Lecherous Nocturne (you know, the other Greenville, South Carolina-based death metal band) might get their newest eclipsed by the rest of the Unique Leader hubbub, and it would be a downright shame. Sort of.
The Age of Miracles Has Passed is an interesting blend of blackened death (or whatever the kids are calling it these days) in that I’ve said “blackened death” and already you’re thinking of a (or some) key band(s) (“Oh, so like Behemoth, etc.”). Specifically, Lecherous Nocturne blend only short chunks of sharp black metal into their technical death metal soufflé, ensuring neither element becomes stagnant. Further ensuring prevention of despoilment is the miniscule album length at just under 28 minutes long. Above all else, you can tell The Age of Miracles Has Passed was created by a group of guys that have been doing this for a while. Musicianship is really top-notch, and while this isn’t genre-defining material, I can definitely see a bunch of wizened dudes covered in tats talking about how brutal their new record is.
There’s a problem in calling this album “brutal,” because the truth is the blackened material is more memorable than the deathier stuff. This album works best in its grimmest moments, and for a good many of the songs (“When Single Shines the Triple Sun,” “Death Hurts Only the Living,” “We Are As Dust”) I find myself anticipating the final minute, the sections in which I observed Lecherous Nocturne traditionally set their more corpsepaint-ready riffage. The best song on the album is its harrowing title track, a plummeting black metal dirge with enough gritty atmosphere to clip angel wings.
If anything, this album is a sign that Lecherous Nocturne should start living up to their over-the-top black metal name and start writing a full-on BM album. Next press kit photos feature corpsepaint in black and white glossy or bust.
