### Antediluvian: Through the cervix of Hawaah

#### 16/01/12 || gk

Canada’s Antediluvian started life in 2006 as a duo and with their initial demos and splits it seemed like the band was all set to join the Incantation worshiping school of the new old school. Then, sometime this year the band released it’s debut full length with an expanded line up as a 4-piece and “Through the Cervix of Hawaah” is one of the better death metal albums of the year.

The album starts with a vaguely melodic instrumental that made me think this was going to be a pretty standard exercise in old school death doom. Title song “Through the Cervix of Hawaah” came on next and pretty much blew away all preconceived notions about what Antediluvian were up to. The song has a murky atmosphere, frantic drumming that threatens to go out of control, deep gurgling vocals mixed with a harsh scream that are both buried in the mix and riffs that are somehow chaotic and hypnotic at the same time. This, it turns out is the preferred template for the band’s songwriting. The riffs vary in pace and tempo going from hyper speed to mid tempo and even down to a crawl on occasion while all the time retaining a strong sense of atmosphere. “Scions of Ha Nachash (Spectre of the Burning Valley)” is a stand out song with its pummeling riffs and drumming before things slow down towards the end of the song to offer some respite. “From Seraphic Embrace” continues the high quality beat down with a memorable mid tempo opening riff and the guitars sound thick and heavy here with the dual vocals adding to the atmosphere in a truly unsettling way. “Turquoise Infidel” is probably the closest to some Incantation worship on this album and has a killer middle section that uses a heavy as fuck mid tempo riff over blast beats.

What the band has done on this album is to take their primary old school death metal influences of Incantation and channeled it through a dark, chaotic and murky atmosphere that is reminiscent of Portal. Also, the songs on this album are fairly technical. Hidden beneath the murk and sludgy atmosphere is music made by 4 talented musicians that is powerful and memorable.

Antediluvian has come a long way since their early recordings. Sure, Incantation is still an influence but the addition of 2 new members, the use of dual vocals and the atmosphere created by the guitarists has pushed them into a different league. The band has something in common with the likes of Portal and even Mitochondrion in terms of creating a dark and murky atmosphere while playing music that is quite complex. However, while you can hear the comparison, Antediluvian is in a league of one. Not an easy album to get into but in a year that’s seen a ton of quality death metal releases, “Through the Cervix of Hawaah” is somewhere close to the top.

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Profound Lore
- Website: Antediluvian Bandcamp
- Band
- Bzath: guitars
- Haasiophis: guitars, vocals
- Nabucodnosor: bass, vocals
- Mars Sekhmet: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Rephaim Sceptre…
- 02. …Through the Cervix of Hawaah
- 03. Intuitus Mortuus
- 04. Scions of Ha Nachash (Spectre of the Burning Valley)
- 05. From Seraphic Embrace
- 06. Luminous Harvest
- 07. Turquoise Infidel
- 08. Gomorrah Entity (Perversion Reborn)
- 09. Erect Reflection (Abyss of Organic Matter)