Azarath - Saint Desecration (2020)

Perfectly blending hyper fast Death Metal brutality with Black Metal hellishness, today we have Azarath and their latest offering: “Saint Desecration”. Building up on their transition into Blackened DM territories over their last releases, this album unleashes nearly 40 minutes of swift aggression and crushing speed, leaving the listener’s ear ringing for a couple of hours after it is over.

The band’s ‘new’ vocalist/guitarist Skullripper (Marcin Sienkiel) perfectly fits in the band’s energetic style and wastes no time to make his presence felt in the furious opener “Death-at-will”. While some might expect more Behemoth-styled because Inferno’s drumming, the band forges their own signature style with a pummeling and firm Death Metal core that turns Blackened in certain occasions thanks to the riffs or some screams, like on “Sancta Dei Meretrix” and “Let Them Burn”.

One of our favorite tracks is the bestial “Fall Of The Blessed” and its intense headbanging potential, delivered by a massive combination of incisive guitars and crushing drumming. One underrated element of the band’s intensity is the throbbing bass guitar lines perfectly delivered and nicely mixed to create a total-war type of atmosphere in pieces like “No Salvation” and “Reigning Over The Death”. The band’s quest for vicious, technically proficient, and cleanly produced music brings us standout pieces like “Life is Death, Death is Life”.

As the release comes to a close with the crafty “Inflecting Blasphemy Upon the Heavens” and its meaty hooks, and the completely sinister “Beyond The Gates Of Burning Ghats”, Azarath has made it quite clear that they mean business and they are a force to be reckoned with. Unleashing ten brilliantly crafted and completely brutal songs, this Polish outfit sets the bar even higher for other bands in the genre. If you like pummeling music that is well crafted and massively well produced, look no further and get a copy of “Saint Desecration”.

Label: Agonia Records

Release: November 27th, 2020

Genre: Death/Black Metal

Country: Poland