Italy's Hour of Penance brings forth their near perfect Brutal Death Metal release, The Vile Conception surpassing the genre's standard with its astonishing brutality.
One of the first things that stood out to me was the production job. Production for me is a must have when listening to Brutal Death Metal, I need a thick crisp wall of sound to engulf me in. Its not like when I listen to Black Metal where the production job sounds like it was recorded in a trash can, in mono. With Brutal Death Metal I want to hear all the blast beats, growls, double bass and fast guitar riffs so it smacks me across the face and gets me fucking moving. This album does just that.
The next thing that needs to be mentioned is the absurd complexity and speed of Mauro Mercurio's drumming. This man is a fucking machine. His ability to utilize the whole drum set effectively is the main contribution to this albums brutality which has to be heard to fathom what I mean. His fast fills are timed perfectly, double bass pummels your speakers, and is balls to wall when he needs to be and tones it down when appropriate.
The guitar work executed by Giulio Moschini, is delivered in a meticulous and ferocious fashion never leaving a dull moment in the album. Very catchy riffs, occasional solos done well, but most importantly overall intensity throughout. The bass however, I expected a bit more. You kind of forget he is even there to be quite honest. Granted there is a lot going on with all the other musicians in the band, but I would like a little more detail thrown in on his part, something I will look for in their next release.
To wrap it up, the first time I heard this album, I knew it was setting the death metal standard higher in my ranking books. This is Brutal Death Metal done right on every level, and cannot go unmentioned.
