Demiurgon – Miasmatic Deathless Chamber Review

Miasmatic Deathless Chamber is Demiurgon’s third album. And because I am not familiar with the band’s prior two albums, I had decided at some point that I would dig before I attempted to describe this effort. Sometimes that context helps. Here, I don’t think that context matters. Instead, I am going to get straight to the meat of the matter: Miasmatic Deathless Chamber is a cement-heavy, thunderously thick, and addictive ride, plated on a superbly produced platter.

Because Demiurgon is relatively brutal, quasi-technical, and Italian, comparisons to Hour of Penance, Hideous Divinity, and Unbirth may be tempting. That distinct sharp riff groove is there, no doubt. It’s an undeniable characteristic and highlight of Demiurgon’s sound. It is as firm a feature as any present on Miasmatic Deathless Chamber. But what distinguishes Demiurgon from its brethren is an adherence to a beat that at times resembles something closer to Vader or mid-period Decapitated. Make no mistake—Demiurgon revels in a decidedly more brutal direction than those two, in the whole. Yet there’s something in the groove here that is markedly different from their Italian brutal death metal peers. And if this isn’t obvious, that distinction makes Miasmatic Deathless Chamber a more interesting listen than I was initially expecting.

Demiurgon wastes no time in opening with, “Worldwide Grave,” a statement song that delivers on that sharp riff meets Vader-esque groove aesthetic. There are tempo changes, melody, and—underlying all that—a deceptively orchestrated brutality that operates as the engine of Demiurgon’s sound: always moving things forward.

Of the seven songs on Miasmatic Deathless Chamber, the shorter ones—“Aspiring to Omnipotence,” “Flashforward to the End,” and “Throne of Derangement”—leave the most lasting impression. Perhaps because the shorter format forces the band into that death/thrash groove, these mostly four-minute long tracks are peak Demiurgon. The aforementioned tempo changes, melody, and deceptively orchestrated brutality are all there, but there’s also a notable strain of viciousness that’s not as present in the longer, more meandering songs: the shrieks and general tempo in “Throne of Derangement” being a prime example.

Miasmatic Deathless Chamber is ultimately the breath of fresh air I didn’t know I needed. This year has been an objectively exceptional year for brutal death metal, particularly of the no brakes and more experimental variety. The way Miasmatic Deathless Chamber fuses the sharpness of more typical BDM with the kind of death/thrash groove of mid-period Decapitated makes it a welcome departure from that scene.