Alien warfare, supernatural terrors, and metaphysical anomaly beyond known perceptions highlight this eventful yet scatter-shot debut full-length album from Birmingham, Alabama-based death metal quartet BLACK HOLE DEITY. Curated with a different angle upon ‘old school’ death (by way of post-millennium perspective) in mind and technical by way of their collective high-skill tendencies ‘Profane Geometry‘ is built from both rapid-fire violence and steadier grooves alike in craft of an idealized, broadly sweeping vision of nowadays death metal shaped to their own myriad tastes. Though it doesn’t fully find its own exacting angle-in this first time around this record impresses for how much it can do and the wilding fusion of many souls it mills through to achieve its well-considered sound and style.

Black Hole Deity formed circa 2019 between bassist Cam Pinkerton and vocalist Chris White founding members of brilliant death metal band Chaos Inception who were soon joined by guitarist Alex Cordero of Calcemia, and drummer Mike Heller (Malignancy, Azure Emote, et al.) making for a stew of musicians with reputations of extreme technical proficiency approaching ‘old school’ death metal from what I’ve thus far seen as a post-90’s or, early 2000’s standard wherein the bar was constantly escalating toward albums like ‘In Their Darkened Shrines‘ and ‘King of All Kings‘. Gathering their first grip of songs that same year they’d quickly produced an EP (‘Lair of Xenolich‘, 2019) suggesting a dark science fictive theme in their lyrics and presenting a sound I’d described as: “the right reference points would be Abysmal Dawn and perhaps Azarath, each balancing an exaggerated Morbid Angel-esque brutally swinging temperament with a more dynamic tempo map and wandering-yet-technical lead guitar work.” where their high aptitude and classic touch made for a compelling start. I’d emphasize that that’d been a suggested launching point rather than a full categorization secured.

In its own stages of development while the band were in the process of finalizing their debut EP, and given thorough revision since, one gets the sense that ‘Profane Geometry‘ knowingly sets the stage for Black Hole Deity as a deeper first impression and a statement of intent and purpose where brutality is delivered with tact, aggression is part of their main voice, yet their work is dynamic… molten enough to represent their esoteric sci-fi themes. For the sake of impact it is a short release with brief yet sharply written pieces and very little in the way of interludium or overt repetition, making that first impression count while hoping to leave as big a dent as possible in just about ~32 minutes. The best possible outcome per the band’s intent is progress and decadence, to take a potent step beyond introductions and impress without stifling the level of atmosphere one can generate in a short period of time. It is just under a minute before their firebrand solos begin to fling about as pinch harmonics craft whole sentences worth of syllables and the precision of the rhythm section proves itself otherworldly out the gates.

Beyond the Rutan school of the guitar solo set as a blazing, odd-angled spectacle meant to accentuate and/or challenge the riff we find more of a technical finesse slashing through opener “Blast Pit“, as much a momentum builder as it is a strike of thrown daggers glinting past before we hit the point of wrathful congestion that its “Crucible Knight“. While I’d have expected to find this type of machine-gunned death metal grooves to feature up front based on ‘Lair of the Xenolich‘ there is a sort of sluice of bigger picture movement which occurs on “Crucible Knight” as it jets past with a few plain moshable riffs which’d have felt weak if not for the sense of speed washing by. Those first two songs are crucial momentum not so much for the thrill of speed so much as an induction, a quick dive into the pulse and pocket-slung guitar work which drives most of this record. Where this reaches its fuming head and presents something unexpectedly masterful comes with the title track (“Profane Geometry”) which is clearly set as not only the final word on Side A (yes, already) but also a chance to insert a pronounced showing where each member gets to crank up their flair, do something expected in a flash and begin to show what they can build around a big, nasty groove.

While the album proposes its step beyond the EP material within those early moments we only just a chance to stare deeper into Black Hole Deity‘s wildly skilled virtuosic side as the middle of the album hits between the star-gazing interlude “Hydrazine Vapours” and the similarly cut high precision shred found on the otherwise moshable “Human Filet” and as quickly as these pieces smoke past they feel like light impressions, quick vignettes that jump on an idea and cut out before any sensation of repetition can take hold. You can hear the guitarist’s compositions aiming for brutality, melodicism, groove, and overall something well-rounded enough that a lot of the comparisons that’d hit their EP now just don’t apply to the erratic, quickly shaped forms of ‘Profane Geometry‘ as the album begins to shape itself into a circuitous, shadowy maze. Thankfully the back half of the record starts to take root and hit us with songs closer to the ~4-5 minute mark, this is where the general progression of forms begins to come together as the full listen shapes its point A to point B tact.

“Swarm Attack” is a clear highlight as we hear the pedigree of the band and the intensity of their work let loose, touching upon streaks of melodic riff and harder grooves yet it also highlights the early 2000’s cyber groove metal feeling the album has been juicing up toward here and there. “Cybernetic Inferno” full goes there and for my own taste it goes from a rush of surreal technical unleash (see: “Spell of Hecate”, right after) toward something with a more idle, readable step. I lean heavily toward the technical interest in the band as they seem most comfortable and on fire when indulging, though the balance is just about right on the wild solo trading fusion of closer “Demons Breath”. As I’d suggested the whole thing blazes past while providing overwhelming detail, the level of which is appropriate of a technical death metal band inspired by the Hate Eternal and Nile adjacent peaks of 2000’s death metal though I’m not sure every single song’d proven itself as vital as the next once I’d began to parse each piece and movement relative to the next.

A full listen of ‘Profane Geometry‘ will either demand you revisit its ever-refreshing mind for riff and rhythms per several listens or it’ll require rapt attention paid to every step to fully gel but, this is more for the sake of its density of ideas and attack rather than an outward-set personae. The vocals are somewhat withdrawn despite the over the top nature of their work, leaving the rest of the band to loudly declare volatility via technique which is set front and center. This reads as both exaggerative and extreme yet tentative in terms of leaving it to the composition and carefully tuned production values to generate personage, though none of these choices are out of the ordinary or inappropriate per the intended style of the band.

We do ultimately get the essence of Black Hole Deity here without a ton of catchy, hook-riddled muse along the way though I’m not sure the experience’ll stand out in my mind for long. Though there are many points of impressive mastery on this album to be celebrate, the only downfall of its ~32 minute run was it feeling unfocused… and despite one of its most impressive features being the broadened tonal ground covered between heavier grooves and their tightly wound technical aspect. For a debut it is well formed but doesn’t yet have a trait or tendency enough to warrant absolute fixation on my part. A moderately high recommendation.

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