Formed in only 2014, Earth Rot has really made their mark in the underground scene. The Australian death metal band has released an EP titled ‘Dirt’ in the same year of their formation. A short 6 months later they blew up the underground scene with their first full length LP titled ‘The Black Smoke’. This band offers a black and death metal mix not many bands can pull off with such seamless transition from one to the other. Now the band is back with their new album ‘Renascentia’ just one year after they released their debut album. Earth Rot has evolved and sharpened the craft of blackened death metal and this album shows that.
I’m a sucker for cool album art. This cover is so dark and evil looking but so bright and colorful at the same time. This cover would really catch my eye if I were browsing around somewhere. ‘Renascentia’ is a 10 song affair with not much in the way of slow or boring bits. It easily had my attention start to finish with its masterfully crafted blackened death goodness. This album is heavy as hell. One of tracks I have no choice but talk about is “The Bones that Lay Beneath The Earth”. When this track came on, I had to check if I opened a new album or skip the band by mistake or something. No screaming, double kicks or shredding in sight. This is a jazz song! Saxophones and a groovy bass line? Check and check. The most interesting thing is I didn’t find it to take me out of the experience in any way. It fits in some strange way. Did I mention that this BLACKENED DEATH METAL band has saxophones? “Condemned to the Grave” really stuck out to me as well on this record. Tons of diversity here. Bits of thrash, death and black metal reign throughout the track. As I write about this song I also wanted to say but kept erasing it. There is an odd heavy metal or hard rock vibe I get from the instrumentals here. Can’t put my finger on it but it’s in there. The last track to be discussed is “Unfurled, the Cover of Darkness”. This is the longest song on the record and for that reason I thought for sure the band would have went with an all-out black metal approach. While it is black metal for the majority, I’m happy to say the band kept the death metal vibe prevalent in this track. This is easily the most black metal song on the record and it’s done very well. This band impressed me with the diversity of their sound and how brutal they can be but still add something different. This will be a stand out release of 2017. Well done.
‘Renascentia’ track list:
Terraform
The Ancient Fire
Waves of the Blackest Mire
Anachronous Oath
Panoptic Terror
The Bones that Lay Beneath the Erath
Bestial Shadow Forest
Funeral Pyre
Condemned to the Grave
Unfurled, The Cover of Darkness
Check out Earth Rot at the links below.
