Unconsecrated
Awakening in the Cemetery Grave

November 2012
Released: 2012, Chaos Records/ Dark Blasphemies
Rating: 3.0/5
Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team

Awakening in the Cemetery Grave captures the essence of Spanish death metallers Unconsecrated and their extensive work. Spanning from early demos and more recent releases the listener is guided through their career of a band who have experienced line-up changes as well as changes within the various record labels they have been signed to.



The ‘Intro’ plays out in an operatic form with strong female vocals before wading into the lung bursting bellowing of ‘Buried In The Crypt’. The charging riffs and weighty drumming collide into a maelstrom of enraged violence along with some double kick pedals thrown in for good measure.



‘Exhumating profaned Flesh‘, charges forward where the last track left off, with plenty of metallic guitar work, and mosh pit worthy riffage to get fans going at live shows, whilst guitar solos bleed out full of vibrancy, taking everything up a notch.



The instrumental ‘Breath of Desolation’ strums away a neo-classical guitar melody, offering the listener some sombre reflection before launching back into round 2 with ‘Path of The Ancient Gods’ which has a gritty guitar drone and deep throated growls that align well with the drumming progression.



Personal moments where the band shine, is in the drumming found in ’Dark Awakening’ and the sonic driven guitar work of ‘Recremated by the Sunlight’. Meanwhile, the departing moments of ‘Morbid Dawn of the diseased’ feels like the band shift into overdrive that is engulfed in a hurricane of savagery.

　

The record finishes with an Unleashed cover, ‘Dead forever‘, which glides by fast drumming and enfused riffs that swamp together with the vocals well granting a more sludgy mid section that reinforces the laws of gravity.



Worth a spin? This record focuses primarily upon all the old-school death metal aesthetics quite well, which certainly reminds listeners of the appeal and reasons to remain loyal to it. However, at times it did feel bit strained with many similar song-structures sounding quite similar to each other. There is no doubt that they are good at what they do, and with tight musicianship of this calibre they are certainly worth investing some time into, for the aforementioned stand out moments alone.

　

Review by Ben Spencer