Genre : Progressive death metal, Experimental death metal
Released : May 19th, 2023
Label : Prosthetic Records
FFO : Ulcerate, Rivers Of Nihil, Nightmarer, Psycroptic
It is not uncommon to see death metal sacrifice emotion in favour of technicality or sometimes even loose track of its own identity in pursuit of experimentation or its will to be "avant-garde".
This is not the case of New-Zealanders Blindfolded And Led To The Woods' newest album "Rejecting Obliteration" which skillfully manages to combine the aforementioned elements in what is some of the most mature and thought-provoking death metal I've had the pleasure of listening to this year.
While talks of "reinventing death metal" may be overly excessive, "Rejecting Obliteration" does however transcend quite a few stylistical boundaries while remaining blisteringly unrelenting from start to finish in cataclismic fashion.
This cataclysm though does not feel like some larger-than-life flashy apocalyptic event but rather a personal and intimate nightmarish whirlpool in perpetual turmoil.
The production style greatly contributes to this impression by having a raw and organic quality to it while also being clear enough to make every sonic element easily legible.
Although the album's most memorable points are probably the dissonant, frenzied, labyrinthine riffs and empassioned vocal deliveries ; there are some genuinely haunting and beautiful quieter sections where the guitar work shines even more in my opinion, and makes the harsh bleakness of the album hit even harder both sonically and emotionally.
This, along with a fair amount of surprising instrumental choices and stylistic curveballs, given the expectations that can come with the genre, easily make "Rejecting Obliteration" one of, if not the, most interesting and captivating death metal release of 2023.