With the maw of the end cracked open and our monstrous apocalyptic herald-beast in flight so erupts the din of unholiest armageddon, a funereal downpour from nine molten-headed hammers upon the land. The third in an order of increasingly bleak, charred-and-choked out prophecies this third full-length album from Copenhagen, Denmark-based death metal quartet PHRENELITH gapes before us having birthed a bleakest yet writ of eschaton at peaking cataclysmic stages. Shapely in its corroded grooves and increasingly dark, suffocating pummel and volatile atmosphere ‘Ashen Womb‘ speaks to new visions of auld temperaments, exaggerated and plumed into headier increasingly psychotic adulation for the gears that’d turn the dial faster toward the cessation of all life. In this sense we are treated to a brilliant standard for death metal of any age (ancient or otherwise) as these folks once again wield prognostication, punishment and billowing movement into unforgettable finalitas.

Gutturally spumed, frothed with apocalyptic dread and dreadnaught rallied riffs Phrenelith formed as a trio circa 2013 via folks pitted in mold, reefer, and other elements of the undergångsstämning lifestyle, as they’d focused on cavernous and horrifying endtime-set atmospheric death metal. A couple of demos later they’d formed the general outline of what their debut LP (‘Desolate Endscape‘, 2017) would be having expanded to a core quartet that’d persist through 2021 or so. The style of that album was remarkable and of course I’ve already detailed my thoughts on it to some degree in review of its late 2021 follow-up ‘Chimaera‘ where I’d suggested both records were among the best released in their respective years and that the band could do no wrong with this ‘old school’ inflected vision (re: Demigod, Incantation, etc.) of death metal a la Dead Congregation and Krypts. The thing to note about the second LP then and now was its intricate rhythmic play, not only in terms of the guitar work but the novel step accentuated by an unmuddied rhythm section which’d been so well highlighted by that album’s bulging production values.

Brief yet destructive in every step the standard set by these folks placed high-as-Hell expectations heading into ‘Ashen Womb‘ and for all intensive purposes they’ve not faltered in taking one step beyond what I’d have imagined or prophesied prior. Naturally drummer Andreas Nordgreen of Chaotian fits in as part of Phrenelith beyond the previous drummer’s exit in 2021 but this is not the only diabolic force behind the ongoing evolution featured in the band’s not-so subtle movements album over album. That is to say that the mortal dread of their work hangs in the air, greying it into an acrid and skin-yellowing accost per increased use of interstitial ambiance, a feature which they’ve doubled down upon beyond the successes of ‘Chimaera‘. This freshly expansive cloud of sulfuric, bellowing froth paired with the quick-rolling strikes of intro (“Noemata”) b/w opener “Astral Larvae” portend an experience likewise set within the cacophony of the apocalypse, an Immolation-esque sense of cinema slow-spiraling downward in its oppressive weight. If the previous album would be the beast arisen to signal the end, the catalyst for greater horrors, then this album will serve as the widespread chaos and devastation resultant.

“Lithopaedion” and “Nebulae” bring not only blackened-death strikes into the hissing air of ‘Ashen Womb‘ but also a profound sense of melodic dread that’d only just been threatened on ‘Desolate Endscape‘ and given more of pummeled, technical swipe through on its follow-up. Here the odd-cut verve and drearily melodic step of these pieces feels militant and tragedian, a vivid illustration of heated and choked-out pyroclasm following the stillbirth choking the canal forth. In more practical terms these are inventive, intense pieces which benefit from quick-footed variance and increasingly emboldened lead guitar work from Simon Daniel (Ascendency, Alucarda) who steadily builds a true apex moment in finishing Side A with “Nebulae”, the point where I’d found just a bit more attention paid to guiding the ear along these distorted pathways helps make this one of the more memorable songs on the album. This is just one boon of many that’d stoked my interest in passing through this album time and again, there are too many details to mention which add to the wrathful fray of its action.

Where could this possibly go on Side B? The thrill of cacophonic, brutally heavy yet nigh psychedelic verve’d death was not lost upon me as ‘Ashen Womb‘ first unveiled its ghastly, deeper set vocal plumb and snarling rhythmic layers but their kinda blackened exaggeration of early 2000’s-era Immolation style grooves on “Stagnated Blood” don’t stop beyond that point of primacy, ultimately characterizing the album differently than the two that’d come before it. Like “A Husk Wrung Dry” on Side A “Chrysopoeia” is one of the more straight forward hammerers on the full listen but we don’t get the complete strike of the bell here until closer/title track “Ashen Womb” provides the tourniquet and a more complete pan out into the wide-angled view of the decimation in aftermath where they’ve saved some of the biggest riffs and psychoactive atmospheric drip of the album for last. There the brilliance and the sprawling ideation of the album are at full resplendency, splayed in volcanic gore for a satisfyingly grand finale.

Though I had high expectations set and already held unflinching trust in the musicians involved in Phrenelith there are yet myriad potential dimensions where something might’ve gone wrong with ‘Ashen Womb‘ as their third in line work. This is not one of those dimensions, though, as we find their crumbling vision of apocalyptic death roiling with its most caustic depth charge to date, an ever-smoking nuke of a death metal record which does the impossible in so quickly amplifying the character and profundity of the band’s efforts beyond a still incredible sophomore LP; Each of Phrenelith‘s releases has benefitted from time to breathe, death metal best suited for a listener with the sense to approach an album via repeated listens which first bask in the atmospheric churn of it all before the riff-and-rhythm have the final word. In that sense my experience was one of knowing patience to start and ultimately a state of shocked entrancement, having felt the profound impact of the album’s full weight pressed upon my skull. For my own taste this work strikes a highest standard for classics-minded pure death metal today, a level of craft and caution thrown to the wind that that sticks with me far, far beyond the average fare yet remains easily approached and enjoyed. A very high recommendation.

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