apanthropy

Father Befouled
Immaculate Pain
Everlasting Spew Records
Released: 9/13/24

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1 – Immaculate Pain
2 – Impenitent Faith
3 – Abomination of Flesh
4 – Pain Divine (Morbid Angel cover)
5 – Vulgar Necrolatry (Abhorrence cover)
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Father Befouled are an American death metal band that have been around for nearly two decades, having released five full-lengths and a robust battery of EPs and splits with bands such as Decrepitaph, Macabra, and Exaugurate. With their newest effort, an EP entitled “Immaculate Pain,” Father Befouled once again channel the power of the old-school American scene to create a putrid offering of guttural vocals, monolithic and crushing riffs, and war march drumming.

Immaculate Pain opens with its title track and the Incantation influence is immediate. Massive, ugly chord progressions merged with longwinded single-note and tremolo picked leads and melodies, with brute force drumming accompanying it. Never reaching hyperaggressive speeds, the tempos are just perfect to really accentuate the sewer putridity of the chord progressions.

‘Impenitent Faith’ is another mid-tempo demonstration of crawling chaos and sinister riff work. Cyclical riffing intersects with overdriven leads and pounding drumming whips the fury forward in an abominable disaster.

‘Abomination Of Flesh’ is a brutal slow crawl through Hell, with glacial tempos and absolute savage down-tuned guitar mayhem. To call it dissonance is an understatement, as the band creates an almost-trance like affair with its use of intricate chord voicings that slam the listener over and over again like waves in a storm.

An interesting aspect of “Immaculate Pain” are the final two tracks, the first being a cover of the mighty Morbid Angel’s ‘Pain Divine,’ followed by a cover of Abhorrence’s ‘Vulgar Necrolatry.’ These are two heavy-hitting covers that demand both speed, finesse and raw technical skill to pull off without butchering them. The down-tuned guitars, galloping drums and ever-so-slightly slower tempo really make an interesting interpretation to the Morbid Angel classic. The Abhorrence cover is like a perverted mirror image of the original, no doubt an organic affair since both bands share a very similar sonic profile.

Fans of Dead Congregation, Incantation, and Immolation will absolutely love this EP. At less than half an hour, it’s good for repeat listening. The production led to a dark, sinister mix that is clear and concise, a valuable characteristic considering how murky down-tuned dissonant chords can become. Fans of old-school American death metal will have a lot to enjoy here.

Band: Father Befouled
Label: Everlasting Spew Records

This review was originally written for Voices from the Darkside.