Combining the skullet intensity of Strapping Young Lad with the majesty and darkness of black metal, Annecy, France’s Deathcode Society would almost appear to be a step ahead of the game in terms of new concoction-ville. The cross-pollination of BM and industrial has come and gone, and still hangs around, but what about the next level up? That, of course, would be ‘ole Devin and Strapping. For a band that formed in 2009 and only has one prior demo to speak of, the fullness and visceral tinge to Eschatonizer shows that the legendary Osmose label knew what they were doing when signing Deathcode Society. The band is almost, but not quite there.
A good chunk of these tunes have the “whirlwind” quality to them. The riffs, while distinguishable, usually go down in a storm, and go down quickly. Deathcode is quick to build upon one and idea, then move to the next. It’s the dominating facet of the blindingly brutal “Noos,” as well as the nine-minute “The Inner Vortex,” which if you’ve been paying a shred of attention to black metal (France or elsewhere), sounds like the best Anorexia Nervosa song never recorded. But as per DR’s current metal scene gripe, the songs lack in brevity. They’re all in between seven and ten minutes, save for the surprising cover choice of Judas Priest’s “Metal Meltdown” and not-so-surprising version of Emperor’s classic “With Strength I Burn.” (For kicks, Deathcode Society should have attempted “Hell Patrol.” That would have been fun.)
Really just a case of quality ideas never getting their max-time in the spotlight, Eschatonizer succeeds in being a fuck-all extreme entity, a veritable “HELLO” to the rest of the underground. How the Frenchman can build on this framework is up for debate, yet Eschatonizer can be considered a worthy, hungry debut.