Originally published at Metal-Archives on 22nd April, 2013 [Link]
Dying Embrace are the pioneers of Indian metal scene, having been around in various avatars, they’ve delivered most intriguing forms of metal music through the various projects they’ve been involved in. Era of Tribulation is a compilation of everything that the band had put out in their earlier active years, needless to say this is indeed a piece of Indian music history, the band is currently active and plays shows in their hometown, Bangalore to thunderous responses every single time. Coming back to the compilation, the guitarist Jim is a force of nature, he has written some really unorthodox riffs, not only do they complement the monstrous vocal madness that Vik is but also they build up the whole atmosphere with an underlying old school rawness which to say the least is spectacular.
One can see a lot of work has been done putting together this cd/LP, this has been very carefully crafted with attention being given to the finest details, the cover art in specific has caught my attention, very detailed intricate artwork that gives the listener to the inherent doom this release carries. The inlay and the thought that has gone into every single aspect of this release is brilliant. The inlay has documented the band at what they do and enjoy best and in black and white, giving an insight into this band’s glorious past. I have the LP and boy! Armée de la Mort Records has done a fantastic job of putting it all together, the parent label Legion of Death had released the band’s 2002 EP Misanthrope. All in all the finished product with the music together is a veritable feast for the eyes and ears.
Dying Embrace are a primitive Death/Doom band, mind you I say primitive because this band is muddy, dirty, rough and to put it all in one word, old school to the bone, lets put together Autopsy worship, a portion of Trouble’s doom glove to get the gears moving and finally the relentlessness of Bolt Thrower to churn out all these together on stage, put all these up in a portrait of a toxic degenerative atmosphere, that’s the band right there for you, as much as I’d like to chip in adjectives, this band is simply the old school fans home, an interesting thing to point out here being, these are the same folks who put out Gruesome Malady’s Infected with Virulent Seed, so you see the pendulum here swings to the other edgy shore of melancholy.
The musicianship on this compilation is fantastic, it’s free-flowing, specially with Jim, there is no plan here, it’s just a gateway to what is an often path into an intricate spiral, the bassist Jai Kumar has been elemental in providing the edge to their sound, unlike the regular bassists one can hear the bass guitar’s frets have been traversed up/down alongside the guitars to give in depth to Jim’s riffage onslaught. The vocalist sure has the Italian horror influence, I think that should explain it all, unlike the textbook doom vocalists, Vik clearly leans onto death growls in places which fit in beautifully to the music. What clearly differentiates this band, their music is the spirit behind it all, the band is clearly enjoying every single second of this often muddy, leaning to an old Swedish production sound creating a cloud of dark force that I thoroughly enjoy, for example I’ll pick up the most death metal sounding track on this compilation “Degeneration”, this track is home, an absolute bliss for the old school fan out there where the band is relentless and gives it all and it totally rubs off onto the listener. Doom/Death is but a mere tag, the band clearly wants to do one thing and one thing alone, annihilate and annihilate you into the abyss, that’s how I describe them, a band that would draw you into the abyss and you’d gladly do so giving into their madness. All in all a proud moment for the Indian Metal Scene.