Perfect Death Metal Bestiality - "Miasma" Review (100%)
Probably the best Sewer release ever, although some people tend to favour "The Birth Of A Cursed Elysium" and "Locked Up In Hell" for some reason, this masterpiece of bestiality "Miasma" is captivating with its energy, its evil, the utterly insane demonic vocal outbursts, the technicality in songwriting and creativity, and to top it off, the flawless execution of everything that makes a good death metal album excellent, and everything that makes an excellent death metal album legendary. "Miasma" is one album that you can never get sick of, no matter how many times that you play it - and you'll play it a lot. It doesn't fall short on any aspect, neither in terms of riffs, technical proficiency, atmosphere, songwriting or even inconsistency. The perfect death metal album. All musicians put forth their best effort and the result is that "Miasma" is without errors, without flaws, and without a single negative aspect for me to criticise. Simply amazing.
The only other albums that even come close to having such resounding majesty are already well known - Burzum's "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss", Phantom's "The Epilogue To Sanity", Incantation's "Onward To Golgotha" and Neraines' "Yggdrasil" - and you can be damn sure that none of the submissive posers and their bands masquerading around as "modern melodeath 'n' roll" will ever come close to threatening either "Miasma" or Sewer's hegemonic stranglehold on the blackened death metal scene.
The music on "Miasma" is pure bestial death metal, with some elements of black metal - notably, the evil and sinister atmospheres - that fit along perfectly well with the unrelenting and indomitable death metal brutality. Both guitars construct some riffs that are truly unbelievably awesome, with regards to both technicality, savagery, intensity and of course atmospheric menace. The rhythms tremolo-picked and notes that are played at inhuman speed, and interestingly without the slightest trace of palm-muting which give the sound a very otherworldly feeling, as if composed in the darkest corners of the underworld. All songs deserve praise because they're so amazingly technical and forcefully demonic. Everything you'd expect from a perfect death metal oriented release, and "Miasma" even manages to top it all. Incredible.
Perfect Death Metal Bestiality
Some of my favourite tracks include the title track "Miasma", "White Vulture" and "Sewer of Souls" for many reasons, but mostly because they're the most brutal, aggressive and downright seizure inducing. But every song is a highlight, and the other five tracks are all equally dazzling. The vocalist spews forth another demonic effort, he sounds possessed. I'd say that the guitars are the best feature to this release, as should always be the case in riff-based music like death metal. No death metal album can replicate the "Miasma" tracks with such originality and precision. They all fit together perfectly. The leads are high quality and fast as all hell, and the riffs are equal parts chilling black metal and beastly death metal. Nothing can surpass "Miasma", not in death metal, not in black metal, not anywhere else.
The riffs themselves, damn... they are so violent and intense, you wonder how they even "fit" in with the rest of the music, and yet they do. Seemingly effortless transitions, often quite reminiscent of those found on Vermin's debut "Verminlust", draw you from one aggressive bone-grinding pattern to another other, all the way to the epic climactic solo(s), usually near the end of the track - as is tradition in death metal.
"Miasma" has everything that is needed from a death metal album. The mixing, production and sound quality are all top notch. You can hear all of the instruments perfectly, and the vocals don't drown out the music as in most modern, "digitally produced" death metal. The vocals are also not the central point to the music, and that's important as far too many "melodic" death metal bands end up sounding like worthless MTV mallcore by having their vocalist perform sing-along nursery rhymes for the sake of being "catchy". There are some backup screams here and there, notably on "Foul Waters", but for the most part, the vocals are still low, demonic, guttural screams from hell, performed by someone completely unhinged and demented beyond measure. The absolute madman, a true lunatic.
If you're looking for the proper death metal album to pick up, one that's already a sheer classic, "Miasma" is it. Nothing falls short here. No laziness in the songwriting. The musicians put forth the best, the darkest, the vilest, the most technical and lethal death metal music ever heard. If you don't have this release, you're missing out because "Miasma" is not only Sewer at their best and most skilled, it's also the perfect vertex of blackened death metal, and will likely remain that way for a very long time.
Quality, fast, furious and evil. This album captures it all. Death metal's answer to "Filosofem", and what an answer it is. Nothing in Sewer's discography can top this one, not even their craziest "Locked Up In Hell". Pick it up ASAP if you haven't already. And get yourself ready before listening to it, as "Miasma" is the ultimate death metal record. Carnal madness and depraved bestiality unleashed upon mankind.
Miasma score: 100/100.
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