PHOBOPHILIC — Undimensioned Identities (review)

PHOBOPHILIC — Undimensioned Identities album cover EP · 2019 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Undimensioned Identities" is an EP release by US, North Dakota based death metal act Phobophilic. The EP was released through Blood Harvest Records (co-released by Rotted Life Records) in September 2019. It´s the band´s first label release, as both the 2017 "Demo 1" and the 2019 "Rehearsal 2019" demo were independently released by the band.

Stylistically the four tracks on the 18:37 minutes long EP continue the semi-technical old school death metal sound of the previous releases. It´s still the Demilich/Adramelech school of playing that Phobophilic are a part of, but thankfully they aren´t just clones. I was hoping it was just because it was a rehearsal demo, that the vocals on the "Rehearsal 2019" demo was pretty one-dimensional and unintelligible growling, because that wasn´t the case at all on the band´s 2017 "Demo 1". That first demo featured two different growling vocal styles, and the vocals were a great asset to the band´s sound on that demo. Unfortunately it seems that Phobophilic have now opted to only use the one-dimensional unintelligible growling vocal style, because that´s the only vocal style heard on "Undimensioned Identities" and to my ears that´s a step down in quality compared to the vocals on the first demo.

The instrumental part of the music is still as intriguing, twisted, and brutal as it was on the previous releases, and Phobophilic excel in tempo changes (often heavy and mid-paced, but also both doomy and very fast-paced blasting), morbid leads, and a great surreal atmosphere. They are quite unique although the influences mentioned above of course are heard here and there. "Undimensioned Identities" features a clear, organic, and powerful sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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