Envisioning the colonnade of pain and torturous death ahead step-by-step thy savior’s abhorrence would manifest a siphon for the mind’s resolve as his hesitation famously begat trembling guilt and a stroke of bloodied desperation in the garden of Gethsemane. Listless among the olive trees and frantically begging commune with his god-father, the soon to be flayed martyr quickly realized he’d not be spared an ounce of agony prophesied. Dismissed by the creator and shaken into anxiety beyond his naked pleas this horrified state of mind was enough to drive the body to hematridrosis, a mindset of such intense existential fear and anxiety that the body sweats in watery waves of reeking blood. Sanguine sweat per the revelation of the forced fate of the god-son offers just one dark window into the elusive mysteries of Oakland, California-borne death metal quartet Vastum‘s fifth full-length album, a feat which returns us to their cruel realm of death-erotik pummel in seeming muse upon terror, molestation and submission. ‘Inward to Gethsemane‘ once again attacks the senses of those who reach for the depth of meaning in death music first, lacking none of the subversive symbolic depth these folks are known for while also hammering home the obvious grotesqueries of each vignette as it comes into focus. Unnerving, warping the mind’s path with a heartily disgusted yet strangely torpid tone and wild-eyed delivery these folks once again iterate upon the miserable dread of their prior actions, thusly following exacted parameters in crafting mid-paced death metal textures which romp and stretch in development of coldly surreal statement.

Formed circa 2009 Vastum gathered as a crew of five folks from the Oakland-area extreme metal/metalpunk milieu during a time when key members of Acephalix were increasingly aimed toward their interest in death metal. The folks assembled all but guaranteed a unique result and for my own taste their first two records with Kyle House on guitars, particularly ‘Patricidal Lust‘ (2013), earned quick fandom from me per a disturbed and unique aesthetic/personae within the ‘old school’ adjacent mid-paced death metal mind palace. A dual-vocal approach, dark psychosexual lyrics and very strong production values would come to define their gig as a third album (‘Hole Below‘, 2015) introduced new guitarist Shelby Lermo (Ulthar, Human Corpse Abuse) and a different sort of tension to their already atmospheric yet still very riff-driven sound. If there is an easily perceived progression we can identify in rushing through the catalog of the entity it is one of increasing interest in atmosphere, leaning into the Incantation-esque reaches of doomed death and I’d say the sludgier bounding of Morbid Angel beyond the more kinetic, abrupt shuffle of their first few releases. ‘Orificial Purge‘ (2019) seemed to be the peak of this idea, and one of my favorite releases from the band to date overall, but as we step into ‘Inward to Gethsemane‘ this new release is perhaps the most patiently developed, inner abysm-cast iteration on their modus to date.

There is a droning, unfocused callousness to ‘Inward to Gethsemane‘ that’d made its first impression simmer in mind to start. Vastum have been so consistent in terms of their production values, frequency of riffcraft, and such that this one still felt like it had all the right moves but this time they’ve lead with a shove back to a double arm’s length distance. The body-horrible intimacy of past records is still there but much like ‘Orificial Purge‘ they’re less intent on simply rattling off ‘old school’ death metal riffs in one ear and out the other. Otherwise I’d begin to see the hand of each member’s songcraft clearly creating a larger divide between an interest in surreal atmosphere and their most direct riff-punched momentum, these differences naturally resolve throughout the full listen but there is some manner of uncomfortable tension which lingers on the surface, and still manages to feel like a palpable continuation of what Vastum have always been all about; Though I will (once again) duck out of attempting any serious analysis for the lyrics of vocalist Dan Butler and crew beyond what is plainly disturbing at face value but I would venture that the music and lyrics are exacting in complimenting mood and scene built for death metal’s inherent morbidity thrust into face.

Upon this marbled altar, penetrated. — The album’s opening and closing moments develop the proposed atmospheric indulgences most heartily, drinking directly from the font they’ve long curated while boasting some fresh vocal exaggerations and fluid atmosphere on “In Bed With Death” in particular. If you’d felt like the prior album took few chances the less than lucid drift felt on the opener here carries through most all pieces found on ‘Inward to Gethsemane’ generally speaking, though the follow-up of “Priapic Chasms” is the first big riff-driven groove up front which emphasizes the stellar pairing of Earhammer engineering and Audiosiege mastering, serving a song which will best pull in folks looking for boldly stated rhythmic indulgence. For my own taste it would be “Stillborn Eternity” which first grabbed me by both ears and yanked me into the album face first, not only for the shuddering riffcraft and surreal backing vocal chimes from Abdul-Rauf but for the spoken-sung deadpan from Butler. One of my favorite signatures from the band is this style of vocal intermingling which takes the mid-paced roll of a groove and gives it a ‘Disincarnate‘-era Loudblast surrealism with those eerie spoken temporal lobe-set voicings illuminating certain pieces or moments within with discomfort, insertions we’d found most often on ‘Hole Below‘ prior. The rest of the song goes on to develop a few trashed-out transitions, crusted and bounding quick changes and such in showcase a of a slightly more fleet-footed Vastum which we haven’t necessarily dug into as adeptly since ‘Patricidal Lust‘. The first three pieces, or, Side A will be energizing for the returning fan as we find the band are still getting weird but haven’t cut the riff count for the sake of atmospheric temperament.

“Indwelling Archon” offers another reminder that these folks have always had some direct relevance to the post-millennium exaggerations of the ‘old school’ death metal zeitgeist of the late 80’s/early 90’s USDM scenario, still rooted in this sense of self in terms of crafting their own tuneful presentation but not locked into those tenets in an exacting sense any longer. A few slaughterous riffs and big groove provides enough of a centerpiece for the moment and modulation gives the impression of an ominous, shifting but complete enough statement. A complicated way to explain the efficacy of ‘Leprosy‘ and ‘Severed Survival‘ style riffs invigorated by time (and some moshable side-stepping) but these sorts of rhythms often feel like sorcery in Vastum‘s hands thanks to their rich sonic depth and very strong rhythm section. “Vomitous” feels like a direct extension of that piece for similar reasons, if not for its rabid-and-rattled vocal tradeoff.

All modern paradoxes read the same, as announcements of death. — I’ve never found Vastum‘s work anemic in terms of rhythmic interest, or, riffs in general though in this case those bigger moments are inserted as spikes within the waves where dread and distance, increasingly antisocial means, set the scene on the horizon. I think this’d been most clearly showcased as the astrally projected estrangement of closer “Corpus Fractum” arrives. The two vocalists trading and colliding in their statements as this final sluice of a song avoids the usual turn of phrase into brutality isn’t such a shock to start but the headier drift which follows amidst its downward facing chorales create a unique sensation which hangs in the air for the next couple of minutes. As the guitarists thrash into a sort of early Finnish death feeling cemetery crawl-and-roar section, flattening it with double-bass pummeled motion rather than the expected d-beaten sluice, completing the surreal stretch of the song which of course doesn’t read as anything all that special on paper but it acts as a strong bookend to the full listen. I enjoyed seeing more of this atmospheric and unpredictable side of Vastum overall, we’d gotten shades of it on ‘Orificial Purge‘ but this album seems to embrace the distance and create a deeper sense of disillusionment with it.

‘Inward to Gethsemane‘ does a fine job reminding us of Vastum‘s long-standing high standard for death metal which is viably atmospheric, plentiful in terms of notable neck-shaking riffs which are at least ‘old school’ adjacent in their tradition while also providing some manner of evolution within each release. Though their work isn’t progressive the deeper layers of meaning, expression, and arrangement are yet thoughtful and symbolic in a profound way when examined under a closer-in aperture. As I begin to count the virtues of their nauseating craft I’d have to conclude this latest work continues to make the argument that their gear is still very much worthwhile for my own taste. That said, this entry might take a bit longer to bloom in mind and slowly shock with its inward-set extremity and I’m not sure that moment will arrive for everyone as there is an introverted tension which lingers through its presentation that’ll may potentially read as subtle to anyone not already invested. A high recommendation.

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