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ACRID DEATH
Abominable Presence Of Blight

Rising Nemesis (2024)
Rating: 6/10

Formed during the pandemic of 2020 and featuring members of Synchronic, All Its Grace and Driven By Entropy, Germany’s Acrid Death embark on their debut full-length release.

Abominable Presence Of Blight is a feisty, if somewhat colourless album that comes across like a mix of a more polished Swedish buzzsaw attack and contemporary death metal. There are no thrills to speak of here but it is a furious opus that reaches into the depths of the more concise and grey Swedish releases. Maybe it is the German efficiency of it all that the members can’t help but instil as they surge through a selection of songs that aren’t as old school as you’d hoped.

It’s certainly a dynamic album that doesn’t hold back when it comes to speed. The likes of ‘Shadows’, ‘Presence’, ‘Huntsmen’ and ‘Dreg Heap’ all gallop intensely, but there is no real identity within the blasts of brutality. Even the slower segments just reek too much of what has now become an all too generic Swedish-style, and the vocals don’t necessarily aid proceedings as they go from featureless roars to a more irritating sneer. There are nine tracks on offer and for me nothing really stands out.

A lot of bands of this ilk have emerged over the last few decades and many of those have left me cold, and here is another. Even with all of their ferocity, Acrid Death are about as welcome as a cold draught down the spine.

Neil Arnold

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