Defixion – Tabella Defixionis
Band: Defixion
Title: Tabella Defixionis
Label: Xtreem Music
Release date: 18 June 2019
Country: USA
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Promo
During this round of reviews, I was in the mood for something different. Something chanting, something pounding, something ghastly that is supposed to supply you with a warning of what is ahead. And hopefully it is something just as good as the starting point. I don’t know what drove me in this direction, but as I made my choice, DEFIXION appeared to fit strongly the idea in my mind.
18th of June marks the release date of the band´s EP “Tabella Defixionis” and honestly I believe it was the track list that made me so excited to hear it. Chant and Lux and Nails and Maza and Eleusis, all the fancy words that really got me going and I wasn’t disappointed with the chanting intro track, “Chant to Abalal”, as it literally was what I was in search for! Pounding drums, whispered phrases in the background, stoked and excited I was prepared for what was to come!
Or was I?
“Lux Diurna” blasts off with all the bells and whistles, the pounding drums and the constant stop-riffage with the connected grinding on the drums before the 2-stroke beats. In other words; pure fucking death metal. Death metal in the veins of others in the trade like Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel. The performance is on par with the best of them up there although there isn’t anything particularly new on the table, but the intro made me hope for more than regular death.
Four songs in I realized that the treble I was hearing was making my ears numb. “Sent below, sent Nowhere” seemed to have the same formula as the previous track but the more guttural vocals made all the difference. The blazing riffs along to the drums made me believe that perhaps the risk of giving myself tinnitus was worth it. A welcoming change of a certain melodic segment came around the middle of “7 Nails for Eulamon”, and what was particularly memorable by then was the middle-range screaming.
As “Mazacrium” rolled around I realized what I was missing. Those more diverse segments that are needed in this kind of music to keep the listener hooked. Those hooks do come around in this track, although seldom. All of it however is performed well; the tightness of all the instruments is undeniable, but after all, the bar has been set quite high by now with the previous comparison.
The six tracks were tied up in a neat little bow with “le Pan le Eleusis” as in ends with the same chanting as the introduction track. The circle is closed than and I couldn’t help but feel somewhat satisfied from that fact alone.
Some may say it’s unfair to compare this to band such as Cannibal Corpse, but I can’t help it. By no means do I think they are not up for the comparison, for nothing that has been done here is wrong in any way. The talent and the potential is high and enjoyable, I personally just wish that the hooks needed came along more often. 7/10 Julia
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