20 Buck Spin is on a roll in 2017. With a bevy of fantastic releases from the likes of Acephalix, Spirit Adrift, Witch Vomit, Weaponizer, Extremity, The Ominous Circle, and

6 years ago

20 Buck Spin is on a roll in 2017. With a bevy of fantastic releases from the likes of Acephalix, Spirit Adrift, Witch Vomit, Weaponizer, Extremity, The Ominous Circle, and a slew of other talented bands, the label continues to make some serious waves in the metal world. We can now add Philadelphia’s own Daeva and their new MLP Pulsing Dark Absorptions to that list. Never heard of them? You’re not alone. But get used to the name though, because you’ll be hearing a lot about this band over the coming months. With their debut release, Daeva introduce themselves to the world with sound and fury, unleashing upon our poor, unsuspecting ears a maelstrom of metal goodness that transcends genre conventions to bring forth something both incredibly unique oddly traditional. Sound contradictory? I mean, yeah. It does. But bear with us. This record is well worth your time.

Describing Daeva’s sound is a task in and of itself, as the band fall into no clearly defined subgenre. Instead, they utilize songwriting tropes and techniques from a multitude of different musical styles to create a fierce conglomerate of old school viciousness. This is some ferocious blackened thrash with a heavy dose of death n roll that doesn’t last nearly long enough. Imagine a merger between Venom and early second wave black metal, mainly Darkthrone and Mayhem (the latter of which get an actually-not-at-all-bad cover of “Deathcrush”) coupled with Slayer’s first few albums and you’ll have a general idea of what this band sounds like. Ridiculously fast instrumentation, intentionally lo-fi production, and songwriting that will cause many snapped necks throughout its brief runtime. If any of this sounds even moderately appealing, this band is about to become your favorite.

All of the above elements become readily apparent right out of the gate with the galloping opening track “No Effective Banishings”, which begins with a thrash riff ripped directly from 1985, coupled with some black metal blast beats that essentially continue relentlessly throughout the track. The vocals are wretched and vile, a delightful throwback to the second wave that complements the abrasive nature of the music remarkably well. The proceedings slow down just barely during subsequent track “Clenched Fist of the Beast”, which hold more steadily to the black metal vibes established by the album’s scathing opener. “Pulsing Dark Reabsorption” integrates some old school death metal elements in the tracks final moments, while “Descend the Miasmal Void” incorporates each of the albums genre elements together in a boiling stew of evil that serves as one of the highlights of the record. One of the most remarkable aspects of this record is that none of these sonic configurations feel out of place or clunky. It honestly sounds like each of these subgenres got it just a bit wrong, and should have been written their music this way from the beginning. It’s damn impressive, and indicative of the songwriting chops this band possesses. Final track “Deathcrush” is everything one could want from a Mayhem cover. It’s fast, fierce, and faithful to the tone and spirit of the original. All these tracks combine to create a vicious assault of some of metal’s most abrasive sounds, and it’s an absolute delight to listen to.

Keep your ears to the ground regarding any future releases from this band, and absolutely stream and grab a copy of this release. They are most certainly going places. Overall Pulsing Dark Absorptions is a fantastic debut that will go down as one of the more enjoyable and unapologetic metal hybrids of an already stuffed year. So blast the volume, roll down the windows, and let Daeva annihilate your senses.

Pulsing Dark Absorptions will be released on physical media on Nov. 15th, and can be pre-ordered on the band’s Bandcamp page. It is available for streaming now on all major services.

Jonathan Adams

Published 6 years ago