Today we have the privilege of sharing an early stream of ‘Devastation Hymns‘ the latest EP album from Adelaide, Australia-based death metal quartet BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS which releases this coming Saturday, June 28th via Lavadome Productions. At work in the trenches since the early 90’s and hitting their full stride in the 2000’s Beyond Mortal Dreams offer quality over quantity within their decades-spanning efforts and this makes ‘Devastation Hymns‘ a bit of a surprise, a release carrying the explosive momentum beyond their sophomore LP (‘Abomination of the Flames‘, 2022) unto a deathly focused EP.

The band’s intent is essentially two-pronged here: In one hand we’ve got ’em at their most brutal and intricate (re: Krisiun, Centurian, Dead Congregation) yet in the other hand we find their work expanding its expression into surreal ouevre even more readily as chorales and keys add empyrean grandeur to their pumice spraying, nuclear-heated work. Throw in a smoking cover of one of my favorite thrash metal bands (via Forbidden‘s “Forbidden Evil”) and this ~half hour EP was an instant hit with me. Check out my written review here for way more of my thoughts.

Thanks goes out to BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS and Lavadome Productions for the opportunity to share this album early. Scroll down to the Bandcamp embed below to finalize your descent… As always, please do your best to support the worldwide death metal underground and grab a copy on CD and digitally on June 28th:

store.lavadome.org/
facebook.com/beyondmortaldreams/

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Per the press release:

BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS are ready to take you into the wastelands and ignite the fires of Death Metal devastation once again. The title of the upcoming six-song EP is no coincidence: “Devastation Hymns.” The band has chosen the extended play format to unleash its most savage material to date—musically and sonically. No other band explores bestial savagery and heaviness at such bulldozing and monumentally majestic levels like
BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS.

“Devastation Hymns” surges powerfully, regardless of the pace, and devastates. The thrilling dynamics and megaton energy of each song never fade, never blur. And so, BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS deliver a thunderously dense, fierce record with some extraordinary, steel-melting grooves. The guitar work of Pahl Hodgson and Jamie Whyte is second to none. METAL.

With two albums and an EP under their belts, BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS have now reached a position where they are expanding on formulas they forged over the years—and they do it in the best possible way, as they keep still pushing forward. A notable addition to their ranks, Henry Inglis – session drums, has propelled the new material into another scourging plane. The EP, true to the band’s tradition, comes with a rendition of FORBIDDEN’s track Forbidden Evil. The vocal performance by Pahl Hodgson leaves a mark—his vocal diversity is stunning. Admit it. We’ve said it before: BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS are Australia’s best-kept secret. “Devastation Hymns” is here to break another part of the chain.

store.lavadome.org/
facebook.com/beyondmortaldreams/

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