Sometimes shit just doesn’t work out. I’ve spent way too long trying to get into Desolate Shrine’s The Heart of the Netherworld, only to realize that there isn’t enough time for that to happen. Despite my admiration for Finnish death metal, endorsements from respected colleagues, and being a well-conceived and well-executed record, The Heart of the Netherworld and I didn’t make a love connection. But that doesn’t mean you won’t have better luck.
Finland has a history of producing death that is at least a little off center, and Desolate Shrine continues that tradition. The Heart of the Netherworld might best be described as atmospheric death metal. Though the core of the album’s sound is fairly traditional death metal with hints of that Swedish buzz saw tone, there are several more layers to this particular onion. The album’s frosty production and some hypnotic tremolo riffs owe more than a little to black metal. The dueling low growl/high rasp vocals are a force of nature, buffeting the compositions like howling storm winds. Most unique, however, is the way Desolate Shrine frequently buries a delicate melody in the background of the songs. Whether these figures are played with clean guitar or some manner of keyboards is difficult to discern, but they seem to be constantly lurking in the bowels of the mix, haunting the tracks like ghosts, and providing a mellow counter to the harsh aggression which generally rules the day.
Desolate Shrine throws a lot at the listener, but its songs never sound disjointed despite occasionally disparate components. The band produces an engulfing musical onslaught that is often savage, sometimes subtle, and frequently both at once.
This all sounds wonderful, and it probably is, but it’s not for me, and here’s why: First, the production is kind of echo-y and ever so slightly murky, which contributes positively to the atmospheric aspects of The Heart of the Netherworld, but detracts from the death metal aspects. The guitars sound just a little too distant and thus the record lacks some of the punch and immediacy I expect from death metal. Like a coral snake, Desolate Shrine is deadly poisonous, but it lacks fangs long enough to puncture the skin and inject the venom. Second, the riffs are merely average. Granted, this is atmospheric death metal and therefore better judged as a whole than by its specific parts, but the fact remains that there are few specific motifs that really grab one’s attention. Third, and finally, with a running time of 63 minutes, The Heart of the Netherworld is at least twenty minutes too long. The shortest track on this seven song album is the intro, at 4:26, and “We Dawn Anew” hangs around for over 15 minutes. In absence of more compelling riffage, there is plenty of fat to be trimmed here.
Sadly, I just couldn’t get into this record, but that probably has more to do with me than it does with Desolate Shrine. Despite my indifference, I strongly suspect that those who are less riff-obsessed, and more positively disposed to a little black in their death will find The Heart of the Netherworld well worth their time.
