Diocletian has been at the forefront of the wave of bestial black and death metal bands pretty much since their inception in 2004, and with their third full length album,
Gesundrian, they show absolutely no signs of slowing down. It’s been four years since the band’s last full length, 2010’s
War of All Against All, and the band hasn’t lost an ounce of their trademark aggression. The music on
Gesundrian is a dense and barbaric slog through the battlefield, and, while I've never been very fond of the term war metal, it really seems to be fitting when discussing Diocletian’s music, as each track is a new chapter of sonic warfare.
Gesundrian is a relentless album that forces you to keep your defense up. Whether is the steamroller trem riffing on “Steel Jaws” or the crushingly trudging opening of “Cleaved Assunder”, this album is filled to the brim with massive riffing and incredible drumming. The vocals are growled screams that are throaty and sound just plain pissed off. Really though, aside from that doomy opening, there’s not a lot of downtime during this album. “Wretched Sons” shows a slower paced riff in between pummeling your face, but the respite only lasts seconds. There really aren’t any of the doom-laden auras that previous albums toyed with, but the monstrous sound presented here leaves no room for anything but a forced march. This album doesn’t suffer from the inherent lack of doom though; it seems more powerful and forbidding.
There is a lot of frenetic, fast paced Revenge styled riffing throughout, but it’s mixed with a lot of crawling old school Morbid Angel vibes at times. “Zealot’s Passion” shows the blend of barbaric, bestial riffing and Floridian trem riffing meshing together with ease. Throughout all of this, chaotic waves of choppy and frenetic drum beats collide with pulsing blastbeats, as evidenced on tracks like the bombastic “Wolf Against Serpent”. Really these drums never let up, because even when the guitars are trudging through acrid sludge, the drums continuously present high speed fills and impressive handiwork. The band’s unrelenting approach builds a monumental wall of sound that continuously threatens to topple over under the weight of its own heaviness.
Gesundrian is an intensely heavy offering from these Kiwi gods of bestial metal. With only a few brief lulls in the forceful waves of barbaric intensity, this album is basically thirty-eight minutes of sonic warfare. Fans of Blasphemy and Revenge should take note, because this is a mammoth slab of war metal that is unrelenting in scope. No frills, no hostages, no survivors.
Sample:
Diocletian - Gesundrian [FULL ALBUM]
