With last year’s face-melting The Drakonian Paradigm still fresh in everyone’s mind, Canadian black/thrash troupe Weapon return with From the Devil’s Tomb. Rare, but this is an album that demonstrates clear progression to the point where it’s hard to not get excited about these guys.
Like its predecessor, From the Devil’s Tomb pulls in the appropriate amount of death and metal black metal elements for a raucous attack. In fact, at various points, Weapon seems to be channelling the untouchable spectre of Alters of Madness-era Morbid Angel. The atmosphere is certainly there, and vocalist/guitarist/mainman Vetis Monarch possesses a healthy David Vincent-oriented rasp, just check out the marvelous “Furor Divinus.”
What keeps From the Devil’s Tomb momentous and exciting is the variance of each song
. Monarch’s songwriting constructs are oftentimes multifaceted, running the gamut from blazing BM (“From the Devil’s Tomb”) to eerie and quasi-melodic instrumentals (“LEFTHANDPATHYOGA” – all caps, nice), to focused thrash on “The Inner Wolf.”
With death metal mixed with black metal or black metal mixed with death metal always a mixed proposition, a band like Weapon could be someone to solidify the term. In their own reclusive sphere, they’ve been able to create back-to-back albums full of substance and charm, thus drawing a straight line to the vaunted death metal days of yesteryear, while keeping a keen eye toward the future. Definitely one of the best newcomers on the black/death scene in a long, long time.
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)