Label: Memento Mori
Hailing from Texas, Church of Disgust welcome in 2014 in the dirtiest conceivable way. The death metal duet had previously released a demo and their Invocation of Putrid Worship EP (through Filthy Cave Records) before tackling on their first full-length album, Unworldly Summoning. And that is exactly what this record is… unworldly.
The heavy guitars and torturous tempo of Church of Disgust lead the way through the territories of old school, dirty death metal. The influence of the Florida death metal scene is obvious on the album, and Church of Disgust really do their best to channel the spirit of the old generation through the thirty three minutes and thirty three seconds of the album. From the intro of the album, you are transferred to the dark realms of the band, but the terror does not quite hit you until “Immemorial Lunacy” takes over, ripping your very essence apart, as the heavy guitars and slow tempo swamp your speakers.
The unearthly groove of “Writhing Dominion,” as the huge riffs swallow all the light out of this world, and the destructive force that the band unleashes with “Rotting Above Ground” make the very ground under your feet tremble, as Church of Disgust flirt with the primitive essence of the doom/death subgenre. And as if all that were not enough to convince you of the band’s intentions, “Bound and Cast into the Depths” sees the band conjuring all their hatred and wrath for this head-on attack. Especially with the inclusion of the reverse vocals near the middle of the track, which help to even further the suffocating ambiance of Unworldly Summoning, leaving no room for doubt.
The construction of ambiance continues after the reverse vocals of “Bound and Cast into the Depths,” as Church of Disgust take their time to introduce the longest track of the album, “The Great Chamber”. The ambiance gets darker and dimmer with the intro and when the music kicks in with the slow tempo showing the way, you are left at their mercy. The track is heavy and relentless and the deep vocals annihilate all obstacles in the way.
The “Interlude” of the album is quite interesting, with the band managing to retain its dark presence and ambiance as they experiment with a different instrumentation. It also leads to the most aggressive and manic song in the album: “The Opener of the Way”. To be fair, only one thing is enough to describe this track: if that does not open the fucking way, I do not know what will. The band shows its furious nature, allowing nothing to withstand the onslaught. And after all that, it is time for the title track to conclude this endeavor. The huge bass line of “Unworldly Summoning” promises a lot, and when the riffs come in, you are left unable to resist the animosity that the track is able to bring forth from within you. The energy of the band is stunning, and the result is almost frightening as Church of Disgust march on through with their primal instincts as their weapon.
All in all, Unworldly Summoning is nothing short of a very good beginning. Church of Disgust are able to convey the brutality of the old school death metal scene and twist it under their own sickening will. An album definitely worth checking out, and you will do well to also keep an eye on this band if you are a death metal fan.
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