Album Review: Erebor – Inherent Malevolence

Back in July we featured Newcastle’s Erebor as a Headline Act. They have the one album out, Inherent Malevolence, and I’ve been listening to it a fair bit. In keeping with our ethos of keeping you informed about the underground and independent acts, here’s a quick review which might encourage you to check it out, too.

Simply put, this tech-death slab hits and it hits hard. Check out album opener “Malignant Tumour” below. Straight in with the blast beats, scathing pace and growled / harsh vocals. Guitars are down-tuned and are more evil than Satan’s lesser-liked half-cousin. Don’t think it’s all speed and scouring, though. Erebor flex their muscles with some rapid scales and heavy doom-influenced sections as well. And we’re still on track number one.

If anything, “Obscured and Caliginous Liturgy” is even more accomplished and rings some vague classic death metal bells. There’s a lot of influence from past masters in there, but Erebor wrap it all together into a lovely package. The kind of package you should be careful unwrapping in case the Cenobites come back for it.

“Betwixt Strange Dreams” has me thinking of old school Pestilence (no bad thing), while the title track is epic in so many ways. Almost eleven minutes long, it never runs out of steam though I think anyone trying to keep up with it at a live show would be leaving the venue in a coffin.

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If the longer opuses are your thing then the closer, “The Stillness of Unending Sleep”, is also over ten minutes long but goes more for the crushingly heavy option. There are some interesting breaks in the deluge where you can gather your breath, but the whole thing is just… immense. Erebor aren’t ones to keep things simple. It’s nice to hear some experimentation going on, and these sections really help the song to flow.

Eight tracks which prove that you don’t need to be signed to a major label to produce and distribute a very accomplished and polished piece of work. The album is available to stream on Spotify and YouTube, and you can buy a downloadable copy on Bandcamp. Links below.

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Inherent Malevolence is out now

Check out all the bands we review in 2022 on our Spotify and YouTube playlists!

Erebor: facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | bandcamp | youtube

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