Denouncement Pyre - Almighty Arcanum
Hells Headbangers
Blackened Death Metal
9 songs (42:19)
Release year: 2013
Hells Headbangers
Reviewed by Goat

Australia’s Denouncement Pyre are back following 2010’s rather good World Cremation, still sounding something like Belphegor meets Angelcorpse in style but also still incredibly good fun to listen to. And Almighty Arcanum proves this from the go, after a brief intro the seven-minute An Extension of the Void roaring forth with copious widdling and a dab atmospheric touch, better than on their previous album, proving the band capable of holding your interest and banging your neck for you. Denouncement Pyre have expanded from the duo of last time, dropping a drummer and adding another and a bassist, and it’s a good move, as drummer ‘L’ (also of Nocturnal Graves) is a dab hand and adds a lot of flavour to what would be dull tip-tapping in other bands’ hands.

The same can be said for the songwriting, which makes far more of an effort to be varied than many bands of this style. You get the typical nuclear-war/all-out-assault on the title track (done well and with some excellent frenzied soloing, even a competent groovy section) but the following He Who Conquers All and The Deceiver slow it down a little allowing for more atmospheric effort, especially on the latter. Circle of Serpents is a real highlight, exploring a more grandiose take on the band’s sound, and finale The Redeemer goes out with a bang, opening with a melodic introduction before speeding proceedings up to a bone-rattling pace. Like the rest of the album, nothing here is new, but Denouncement Pyre know how to craft an extreme metal tune. The Aussies have released two solid albums now that will please the ears of old school death/black fans – let’s hope on their third the band strike out for more original terrain, as good as this is.

Killing Songs :
An Extension of the Void, Almighty Arcanum, The Deceiver, Circle of Serpents, The Redeemer
Goat quoted 81 / 100
Other albums by Denouncement Pyre that we have reviewed:
Denouncement Pyre - World Cremation reviewed by Goat and quoted 80 / 100
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