Advent of Wounds

Brazilian duo Fossilization have only been active since 2020 but already have their death metal formula down extremely well, sounding as ancient and rotten as that terrifying creature from the artwork. It’s a style of death metal designed to be as putrid and filthy as the proverbial tomb, caked in bone dust and drowned in rancid fluids – subjecting the listener to endless Dead Congregation-like torrents of noise poured on their heads again and again, on first piece here Cremation of a Seraph an aural depiction of being smothered and buried alive before being entombed for a thousand years, until your body has long since decomposed and merged with the soil. Cheerful stuff! And certainly, given a few listens, not without its charms, particularly when you recognise the riff patterns being cleverly woven by the band.

It’s like Incantation taken to their natural conclusion, pushed to the point of near-obscurity a la Portal by way of Immolation (such as on Disentombed and Reassembled by the Ages) with a touch of epic grandiosity to the guitars that simply can’t be hand-waved away. This is certainly a skilful construct by the band that will appeal to fans of the murkier side of the genre first and foremost, yet those who prefer a little more melody will still find much to entice them into the coffin. Said grandiose quality to the dissonance emanating from the guitarwork here is more than gripping, yet as Scalded by His Sacred Halo shows Fossilization are expert at creating an atmospheric effect with it, and just as impactful when slowing the pace to death/doom levels. Said doom influences come more to the fore later on the album, Servo beginning (and ending) with downright creepy ritualistic horns before a militaristic beat and build introduce a speedier charge that slows and hastens enjoyably through the track.

Yet it’s While the Light Lasts that really dips into doom, a lurching death/doom creature that bears the closest thing on the album to a hummable melody – even as it speeds into a gallop towards the end, the ominous dread of before is still written into its very DNA, and the ensuing funeral-paced doom is bonechilling. It would be nice to hear a little more variation on the theme regardless from Fossilization but this is not a progressive sound by any definition; their music is purely about its physical and spiritual effect on the listener, and by that yardstick the band are more than a success. Not a revelatory album but it does show off their skills extremely well and will send a chill up the spine of any death metal fan with an affinity for, or fear of, the eventual and inevitable grave.