Review By James Anthony

Long time local favourites, VESPERS DESCENT‘s latest full-length, ‘Fragments of the Forgotten’, is a blistering slab of melodic death metal – European in style but filtered through a distinctly Australian lens. Eerie, atmospheric guitar lines swirl around a restless rhythm section that never seems content to play the same thing for very long; further intensified by the deep growls of vocalist Richard Clements and a relentless barrage of brutal riffs, the end result is a crushing sonic onslaught that barely lets up for its entire 47-minute running time. This is definitely some tasty stuff.

Relatively brutal compared to the majority of their European melodeath comrades, Vespers Descent take the template provided by those hallowed forerunners of the genre (At the Gates, In Flames) and make it their own. Technically impressive guitar solos abound, weaving among proggy time signature changes which manage to never feel out of place or excessively masturbatory. Grant Burns’ and Drew Shepherd’s guitar riffs are consistently entertaining, if not hugely original – although it must be said that in such an over saturated genre, originality is hard to come by and they do a good job under the circumstances. Ben Mazzarol once again lays a convincing claim to being one of Perth’s premier metal drummers. His performance here, coupled with that on Chaos Divine’s excellent ‘The Human Connection’ (released earlier this year), makes it difficult to argue this point. His technically proficient, yet ultimately organic style is a joy to listen to and speaks to the quality of musical education that Perth has to offer.

To have an impact in any sub-category of metal, especially one as crowded as melodeath, a band must have the songs to put them ahead of the pack. Lucky for Vespers then, that all the years of blood, sweat and tears have not been in vain. They have produced a strong set of tunes here that show a good knack for dynamic interplay and canny awareness of how much is ‘too much’. Unafraid to slow things down now and again, the mid-point of ‘Slaves to the System’ and the first part of ‘To Define… We Destroy’ prove that the band can be just as effective whether their collective foot is to the floor, or they decide to take a more scenic route. Carefully constructed without coming off as contrived, Vespers Descent prove themselves capable and accomplished songwriters (even if the somewhat clichéd track titles leave something to be desired). Album highlights such as ‘Feed the Fear’ and ‘Solaris Entwined’ are on par with anything their global counterparts have turned out this year, nailing that elusive combination of catchiness and brutality that so many others fail to grasp.

It’s been a good year for the Perth metal scene thus far – let’s hope it continues well into the future and some wider recognition comes for the many bands that have earned it. Few fit that bill better than Vespers Descent. This is a very good album, so do yourself a favour and hunt it down while you can.