OPPROBRIUM — The Fallen Entities (review)

OPPROBRIUM — The Fallen Entities album cover Album · 2019 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"The Fallen Entities" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US death/thrash metal act Opprobrium. The album was released through High Roller Records in February 2019. It´s the successor to "Mandatory Evac" from 2008. Opprobrium were originally called Incubus, and released two albums under that monicker in the late eighties/early nineties, but were forced to change their name because of trademark issues. If you count the two Incubus albums, the band have only released five albums in their 30 years of existence, so they can´t be accused of being particularly productive. All instruments and vocals on "The Fallen Entities" were recorded by the Howard brothers, Moyes M. Howard (drums) and Francis M. Howard (vocals, bass, guitars).

"Dark Days, Dark Times" opens the album with dark and heavy death/thrash riffs and rhythms and Francis M. Howard´s aggressive raw vocals on top, and the rest of the album pretty much sounds like that with some variation in pace and the occasional guitar solo to put a little spice to the music. Stylistically that´s more or less a continuation of the style on the two direct predecessors, and less like the style on the two Incubus albums, although there are hints of the early days here and there. Opprobrium are a well playing band, but if I have to mention a minor detail I would have done diffently it would be creating bass lines that don´t follow the guitar riffs one-to-one, and placing the bass in the mix so it can be heard. In that regard it´s a bit too audible that the focus has almost solely been on the drums, guitars, and vocals, and to my ears it sounds a bit like the bass is a necessary evil or an afterthought to Opprobrium. They aren´t alone in making this mistake as many extreme metal albums either feature no audible bass or a bass which just follows the guitar, but it needs to be adressed here, as I think "The Fallen Entities" could have been a more dynamic and quite frankly better album, had more focus been given to the bass lines.

That minor complaint aside, the material on "The Fallen Entities" is both relatively well written, powerful and aggressive death/thrash, and it´s performed with the right amount of passion and conviction. Other than the lack of bass in the mix (which doesn´t mean the production lacks bottom end heaviness), the sound production is actually also very well sounding. Raw, brutal, and powerful. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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