Any self-respecting death metal fan would have gone the length to check this little CD out. Lecherous Nocturne counts some of who’s who in American death metal among its members.

To begin with, the band calls Greenville, SC home, the birthplace of Nile, if you didn’t know. With that coincidence it is perhaps not shocking that Dallas Toller-Wade, Nile guitarist, is a session member of Lecherous Nocturne. Surprise comes in the form of the instrument he mans for the band. Instead of a guitar he would wield for Nile, Dallas is behind a drum kit for Lecherous Nocturne. In addition, Mike Poggione, from Florida death metal originators Monstrosity and technical dazzlers Capharnaum, plays the bass. AS it is then, Lecherous Nocturne rhythm section does not seem to be suffering from the name recognition. Additionally, the recent review I read in Metal Maniacs was complimenting the album with its highest marks. With all of this buildup, maybe I should have tempered my expectations, yet many spins thereafter (which don’t take long as the whole disc is only 20+ min) I am still finding myself longing for more.

Adoration if the Blade is technically impressive American death metal with outstanding musicianship, very crisp professional production … that simply does not grab hold of my soul. I can’t find a single thing to quote against the album. There are monstrous riffs here on the title track. There is an all-out assault on A Path to Deity, where the band lets the brutality wash over them. There is plenty of knee-cap breaking rhythm shifting, as on the short Phalluscidal, or fast to superfast with drilling guitars onto the subsequent grotesque double bass propelled slowdown on The Divine Wind. Dallas is impressive, for the first time being a drummer for a technical death metal band. Blast to double bass transitions, military march on Release in Flame, or some percussive elements against the dense guitar backdrop on Singe Este Viata. Jason Hohenstein can unleash a towering growl or climb the ladder with more ‘core higher register. Vocals, drumming, or any of the individual musicianship is certainly not what holds the record back.

With no particular element to single out for the album not clicking for me, I would compare Adoration of the Blade with a perfectly shaped shiny geometrical object, a cube, done in accordance with the axiom and the dogma, and failing to provide any mystery spark. As banal as it is to say, the record simply lacks catchiness, be it the heavy breakdown, or some penetrating melody, at least on a periodic basis. This is like looking at the Ferrari which can’t go over 55 mph, or the beautifully shaped desert devoid of sugar. Somehow, Lecherous Nocturne main influences, Death and Suffocation, while in their prime, were always able to find that secret ingredient to produce undying classics.

I have certainly wanted to love the record and tell y’all to dig it out at any cost, but as I have got to be honest with myself. Aside from the group of highly competent musicians and excellent play, I found little to love and cherish for years to come on Adoration of the Blade. If you are a fan of the bands mentioned throughout the review, and feel that the competency factor alone is enough for you to give this a spin, feel free. I hope you find more than I did, and correct yours truly.