Necrotica When it comes to blackened death metal, Angelcorpse usually aren't too far behind Behemoth in terms of popularity and notoriety. It makes sense too; their discography was incredibly consistent and reliable, with not a bad album in the bunch. Thick riffs, hard hitting drumming, and a clear-yet-cavernous production were the hallmarks of their work, most notably their figurehead Gene Palubicki. The guitarist and vocalist applied his trademark sound with Angelcorpse to a number of other projects he was involved with, but Perdition Temple seems to be the most promising of these groups. And if Sacraments of Descension is anything to go by, then it seems as though I've been missing out on some really strong death metal albums released under the Palubicki banner.

What you get with this album is pretty much what you'd expect from an Angelcorpse album: relentless riffing, intricately written guitar leads, and black metal-inspired tremelo picking. It's predictable yet incredibly satisfying, and every song packs a familiar yet impactful punch. The production is such that you can hear every little note being played while still respecting a certain degree of rawness; this is especially evident in the blastbeat portions, which raise the intensity while letting you marvel at the technical abilities of the musicians. Riff-wise, there's a lot of Morbid Angel and Demilich influence on display, most notably Covenant-era Morbid Angel. And while the album lacks in the variety department, it's also a short affair and doesn't wear out its welcome over time. However, there are a few songs I'd like to highlight as particular standouts: "Eternal Mountain" and "Antichrist." The former is defined by its more progressive nature, boasting several off-time and off-kilter riffs (lots of 7/4-time in particular) separated by the band's usual brand of intensity. The latter is probably my favorite instance of atmosphere on the record, slowing down midway to feature some echo-laden growls that remind one of the hellish vibe featured in Immolation's landmark record Close to a World Below.

Sacraments of Descension isn't anything groundbreaking by any means, and the songs do tend to blend together after a while. However, if you're in the mood for a death metal record that's ceaselessly aggressive and never lets up, you could do much worse than this. I haven't followed Gene Palubicki's work too closely since the Angelcorpse days, but maybe it's time that I started playing catch-up.

Nightfly Normally I like to review an album fairly soon after it’s released and if I don’t I probably won’t review it at all. I’ve been living with Sacraments Of Descension, the third album from Perdition Temple for over six months now so it would have normally missed the boat for a review from me. However as it’s so good I decided I had to get one done.

Those of you who’ve followed guitarist and vocalist Gene Palubicki since Angelcorpse days will know what to expect here. Since that bands last album in 2007, the often maligned Of Lucifer And Lightening, he went onto Blasphemic Cruelty and Apocalypse Command before forming Perdition Temple in 2009. Pick any of his bands and you won’t find much difference between them, all following the tried and trusted template that Palubicki developed in Angelcorpse. That is blackened death metal with a Morbid Angel influence fuelled by a relentless barrage of ultra-fast drums and busy guitar riffs with a wall of sound approach. It’s in Perdition Temple where he has produced his best work since Angelcorpse and Sacraments Of Descension is their best album so far, in fact in my opinion equalling his work with Angelcorpse. Nothing has changed stylistically but here we get his most compelling collection of riffs and hooks for some time. Some may find it too busy with little variation in the songs and it would be a fair point but a good and sympathetic production really allows these songs to shine with every blur of notes and rolling double kick drums clearly heard. The lack of variety makes picking favourites futile but at only thirty four minutes it works a treat with nothing standing out as a weak moment either.

Fans of Palubicki should have no complaints here but if you’ve not been won over by him in the past that is unlikely to change with Sacraments Of Descension. Angelcorpse reformed for some live shows a few years ago but all has gone quiet again. A new album would be very welcome but if it happens hopefully that won’t be the end of Perdition Temple. On the strength of this one there’s plenty of life left in this band yet.