DIABOLIC — Mausoleum of the Unholy Ghost (review)

DIABOLIC — Mausoleum of the Unholy Ghost album cover Album · 2020 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Mausoleum of the Unholy Ghost" is the 6th full-length studio album by US, Tampa, Florida based death metal act Diabolic. The album was released through Witchhunter Records in March 2020. It´s the successor to "Excisions of Exorcisms" from 2010. There have been awfully quiet from the Diabolic camp in the ten years between the two releases and you get the feeling, that Diabolic is more a project these days than a "real" band. A sentiment which is further strengthened by the fact that "Mausoleum of the Unholy Ghost" was recorded by the two-piece lineup of drummer Aantar Coates and lead vocalist/bassist Paul Ouellette, while the guitars are handled by session musicians Matt Barnes and Matt Roberts.

Stylistically the material on "Mausoleum of the Unholy Ghost" sound exactly how you expect Diabolic to sound. Furiously fast-paced and technically well played US death metal in an old school style, which in many ways is similar to the sound of some of the late 80s/early 90s releases by fellow Florida artists like Morbid Angel and Deicide. Diabolic were never the most original nor the most unique sounding act out of the Florida scene, but especially their early releases are prime examples of US death metal. By the time "Excisions of Exorcisms (2010)" was released it did seem a little like the band had run out of ideas and paired with a flat and somewhat lifeless production job, that album wasn´t the "comeback" many had hoped for.

Unfortunately the same can be said about "Mausoleum of the Unholy Ghost". It´s a decent quality US death metal release, performed by skilled musicians, but the production job lacks dynamics and for some reason the band have chosen to put the growling vocals too low in the mix (which deprives them of the commanding power that they usually have on preceding releases by the band). So although it´s obvious Diabolic have some relatively great songwriting ideas and there are lots of power and aggression in their music, the potential is not fully realised as a concequence of the sound production. This type of music needs a more analog, brutal, and raw sounding production and a less digitally sounding ditto. Especially the drums sound triggered and clicky but the guitars also sound very similar on most tracks. The lack of dynamics make the riffs and the tracks sound too much the same, and my attention simply begin to wander only a few tracks into the album. There are a few standout moments/tracks like for example "Spoken Spite", but they are few and far between. It saddens me, but oh, how the (once) mighty have fallen (hopefully they´ll prove me wrong with their next release)...a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
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