If you were to assemble a couple teams of metal fans for a game of Family Feud, and the reanimated corpse of the late, great Richard Dawson asked the contestants to name an adjective that most perfectly describes death metal, the survey of 100 random humans would likely return results such as evil, deranged, satanic, heavy, etc.
On their debut, Australia’s Descent play mean death metal. Towers of Grandiosity does not like you, does not like your grandmother, and does not like the sweet card she sent you for your birthday. That it pulls a good amount from the hardcore punk tradition in addition to all that death metal ought to give you a good idea of its intentions, but this remains very much a death metal record in most of the riffs and heft, pulling from just a few beastly sources while showing the ever-so-slightest amount of variety over not even 24 full minutes of run time.
The most notable, immediate ingredient of the record is old school Swedeath of the Dismember style, both in terms of riffs and that chewy guitar tone, with the occasional mid-paced minimalist charge more in line with Bolt Thrower. Also prevalent, however, is that punk nastiness, mostly delivered through a heap of d-beat riffs and rhythms. Some of the album’s best moments are when it blurs the lines between the two sounds, such as how “Skinwalker” rapidly switches back and forth between tremolo death metal riffs and full on Discharge drive. Finishing the package are throaty, mid-ranged growl-yells (a source of much of the attitude) and a very nice, natural-but-echoed production that benefits every element, particularly the vocals and leads.
For the most part, that’s it. The album is a series of blasts, bottom-feeding crawls, chugs, pummelings, bombastic thumps, and the occasional slice meant to harm you slowly, at a medium pace, or extremely fast. As stated, however, there is a touch of dynamics to the record, which helps to break up a style that can begin to run together in even shorter times than this album takes up. Most notable is the gradual slowing to a crawl of “Fountains of Sand,” which opens the album up for the moody “Sicut Superius” before “Chameleon” again brings back the fully rageful intensity. It’s a bit of a mini-suite, but let’s not get carried away and start calling this stuff deep.
But depth isn’t exactly the point here, and while there has certainly been more memorable hardcore-infused death metal, that also might not be the point. The point is that it isn’t as much remembering how you were assaulted, but rather remembering the severity of your beatdown. Towers of Grandiosity delivers the verbal and physical abuse, getting in quick and leaving before the authorities can arrive.
Descent isn’t Richard Dawson kissing the girls’ cheeks on Family Feud. Descent is Richard Dawson launching you down into the battle arena of The Running Man.
