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Smouldering In Forgotten: I, devourer

02/04/12 || BamaHammer

Bahrain is an island country that’s roughly the size of Iron Maiden’s stage rig. It’s also home to 1.2 million people, which makes no sense. What also makes no sense is that a completely fucken excellent blackened death metal band like Smouldering in Forgotten can just appear from a country like this.

These guys are self-proclaimed Goatwhore fanatics (they stole their name from Goatwhore lyrics), and while I’m not a huge fan of Goatwhore myself, I do greatly enjoy Smouldering in Forgotten’s take on the blackish death metal sound. If you’ve never heard this band (and honestly, if you have, then you’re probably just as bored as I am), just know that SIF brings more of a brutal element to this style because of the deeper, more guttural vocals and a reliance on slightly more traditional brutal death metal riffing than you’ll find in most other blackened death metal bands of today.

The overall sound of “I, devourer” reminds me quite a bit of (slightly old, good) Kataklym with a black streak. The vocals are very reminiscent of Maurizio Iacono, so if his general vocal style turns you off, you probably wouldn’t dig SIF. The drumming is fast and tight as hell (because it’s programmed…troll face), and as a result, the riffing of the guitars sounds more complicated than it really is. This approach actually makes the music really simplistically groovy and extremely precise while maintaining a sense of brutality courtesy of just the (fake) drumming. Most of the tracks also feature at least a few moments that will have you nodding your keffiyeh-laden head in approval.

The aspects of the album that I enjoy most are the Middle Eastern influences that appear in the riffing every now and then. It’s not overbearing or really something that solely drives the music, and SIF doesn’t whip out their phallus and jiggle it in your mortified face like Nile does, but it’s a cultural touch that inadvertently shines through the music beautifully. The scales and stylings used in today’s black metal really accommodate the “desert sound” (see Melechesh and Scarab for further proof), and Smouldering in Forgotten is no exception.

As I said before, the drums are indeed programmed, but they’re done so meticulously well that it’s very hard to notice. If you have some inherent prejudice against bands who use programmed percussion, at least forget for a second that I revealed SIF’s dark secret and give them a shot. I bet you wouldn’t even notice. The expertise in programming also shines through to other aspects as well, such as utilizing keyboard sounds to create atmospheres when necessary and introducing and outroducing songs as well.

Overall, Smouldering in Forgotten understands the blackened death metal game and they play it quite well. With “I, devourer,” they also cement their status as one of the region’s extreme metal elite, and if you dig Goatwhore, you should definitely give SIF your full undivided attention for 54 minutes.

Information
Released: 2010
Label: Independent
Website: Smouldering In Forgotten MySpace
Band
Mardus: vocals
Tael: guitars
Busac: guitars, drum programming
Voidhanger: guitars, bass, vocals
Hussam: bass

Tracklist
01. An End to All Things
02. Dread Messiah
03. Unspoken Names
04. Crimson the Sand
05. Bloodied Hands
06. Ash and Tallow
07. Spiritus Nes Sancti
08. Reborn As One
09. I, Devourer
10. An Elegy (for Tomorrow)

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