Gotta be honest, folks. I needed some kind words, and it just so happens that Josh sent some kindness my way on our Initial Descent this week!  Apparently, me do good word typey on the internet thing!  Of course I very much appreciate the shout-out, and I’m glad what I do here doesn’t go unnoticed, but this does put a slight amount of pressure on me to nail the apparently much-awaited review for Unextinct, the newest full-length from Romans Hideous Divinity.  Unsurprisingly though, this thing rules, so writing about it should be a cake walk.

Featuring Stefano Franceschini, formerly of Aborted (who also put out a monster of an album recently), Hideous Divinity capitalize on a five-year gap between their last full length, 2019’s Simulacrum and Unextinct.  Thematically they pick up on familiar ground, treading the waters of cosmic horror, existential dread, contempt for religion and misanthropy.  Not exactly breaking new ground in the world of metal, but nobody said they had to.  They just have to keep making the excellent blend of technical, blackened and old-school death metal they do so well.  Unextinct speaks on courage in the face of the unthinkable horrors that silently shape our lives, while simultaneously upholding an atmosphere of dread, anxiety and foreboding in the music.  According to the band, “Every song has become a world with its own dissonances and rules made to be broken.  A soundtrack of a shipwreck with the best sound production we’ve ever had: our brother Stefano ‘Saul’ Morabito at 16th Cellar Studios really outdid himself.”  Truly, the production here is solid.  The guitars are razor sharp, the multi-layered vocals are clear and cut through well, and the drum sound is massive.  All the little nuances of dissonance and atmosphere interweave together to create an album that does an excellent job at gripping you and holding you in a headspace.  There aren’t a lot of moments on Unextinct where Hideous Divinity let up on you, but that is perhaps the point they are trying to make, after all.

Unextinct properly opens with the single “The Numinous One”, which lays out the mission statement of the band quite clearly: a technical, syncopated and chunky riff gives way to a breakneck drum performance courtesy of session musician Davide Itri, who deserves to be a full member of this band, quite honestly.  His work is nothing short of flawless across the entirety of Unextinct, and being “merely” a session drummer, he leaves an indelible mark on the very foundations of these songs.  That being said, there’s also quite a bit of meat on those bones too.  Tracks like “Against the Sovereignty of Mankind” and “Mysterium Tremendum” allow the band to do what I believe they do best, which is lean into the Nile-esque technical side of their music and really hammer home the stunning musicianship on display.  Honestly, I wish that in the future they would get even more technical with it, because I fervently believe that they have the skills to push the boundaries on their personal brand.  Meanwhile, “Quasi-Sentient” and closer “Leben Ohne Feuer” cement more grooves and atmosphere, allowing a brief respite from having your face melted off by shadowy, amorphous cosmic horrors.

Big year for death metal, huh?  I haven’t remembered a first quarter this strong in a while, but Unextinct is sure to please the masses, and while it might be a little early to call shots now, this is one I think all of us here at Nine Circles, Inc. are going to be spinning for quite a while.  There’s a lot to unpack due to the hefty runtime, but once you start you’re not going to want to put it down.  Almost as if some unseen hand is directing your will towards the album…

-Ian

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Unextinct is out March 22 on Century Media Records.  For more information on Hideous Divinity, visit their Facebook page.