Compelling an impossibly bleak scene set upon the wandering laze of the ancient dead, a grey spotlight upon movements informed by the dark remnants of ancient beliefs Norwich, England-based death/doom metal quintet CONSECRATION bring stoic romanticism to this brilliantly paced and riff-intensive fourth full-length album. By far the most self-entrenched and classicist release from the band to date ‘Exanimis‘ accentuates the ‘old school’ early 90’s death/doom metal tone and tension of their work through increasingly concise well-differentiated pieces. Though we lose the lost and estranged atmospheric scattering of their prior releases here the trade for easier-read tracts of mid-paced death metal nihil, doomed introspection and eerie melodic statement is well-warranted, a boon overall.

Consecration have been around since ~2010 or so, initially flocking together for the sake of creating heavy, atmospheric doom metal music. There’ve been many line-up changes, many labels and such along the way but their collective has generally agreed upon something like melodic death/doom metal with a grimy, imperfect edge as their signature. This is a rare case where I don’t think you’ll take any valuable context from the band’s formative work and should instead skip right to the relatively solid showing of their debut LP (‘Ephemerality‘, 2014). The most reasonable and common likeness one might pull from the band’s discography in general is something like Mourning Beloveth or a less severely ‘old school’ Ophis (alternately, Decomposed) in the sense that they’re not particularly “goth” in expression yet carry morose affect one could trace back to earlier My Dying Bride and ‘Lost Paradise‘ per mid-to-slow paced melodramatic death/doom.

Though I’ve given most of Consecration‘s releases brief review over the years I’d found very little to connect with in terms of riffs beyond their debut. The absurdly patient trundling gloom of ‘Fragilium‘ (2019) was a real stretch into atmospheric extremes beyond their debut, a bit of a floater for my taste, which left me without much to cling to upon return. Their follow-up (‘Cinis‘, 2022) was a pivot backwards in response as they’d brought in a new second guitarist, a great boon to their sound. Though you won’t find any ~twelve minute dirges quite like “Embrace of Perpetual Mourning” on this new album they’d set a higher standard going forth within the bounds of that third album.

‘Exanimis‘ appears as another pivot of sorts, a change of pace which finds Consecration once again shortening their song lengths, closer to a ~5-6 minute average, and compacting each statement into lumbering riff-forth death metal churn. We’d heard some of thier ‘old school’ gnashing on ‘Ephemerality‘ but admittedly far less beyond that point, though there were some shorter gnarlier cuts on ‘Cinis‘ that’d helped to break up its pacing. Here everything moves within dripping-paced, mounding grooves, riffcraft which often demands both guitarists exchanging some manner of concerted heat amidst the dramatically stated roar of their movement. This is more of a feature of Side A barreling into view, a heavier-swung axe which suits their early 90’s death/doom metal parlance but dims their horizon-set lament toward more immediate action.

“Herald of Darkness” establishes a rotten, warmed-over tone via twisted, slow-stepping movement by way of riffs you’d expect from a circa ’94 death mid-paced metal record be it Morta Skuld or a well-slowed Nuctemeron (Arizona). Watery “Where the Slime Live”-worthy chunking and some infernally drowned vocal effects on the opener help to characterize Consecration‘s approach on ‘Exanimis‘ as olden, fiery b/w severe solemnity, dread as catalyst. The main rhythm guitar tone(s) pulled from these sessions are a huge boon for my taste, lending the band’s style a muscular push with enough spongier flexibility to warp their faster-fingered and/or melodious grooves a bit; The stalk-and-squeal step of “Configuration of Lamentation” and its hairier creep of a follow-up, “Submerged in Sand“, take advantage of the clap of that thunder while expanding their ouevre into drearily melodic and droning step respectively. — I’d been so thwarted by those first ~fifteen minutes that I’d not listened beyond them for the first ~ninety minutes of induction, running it back with appreciation their mammoth sound and the zero-detour path carved through.

The slow ramping release of “Domain of Despair” offers dramatic punctuation to conclude Side A, taking a break beyond the high of “Submerged in Sand” and falling back into the atmospheric death/doom tension one’d expect from Consecration outright. Paired with the ranting, anxious movement of “Harvester of the Forgotten” this mid-album arc bears its own hypnotic intensity which peaks via the doomed, hanging lilt of “The Bitterness of Grief”, a piece which brings us closest to classic pre-’94 Peaceville three ideation… I could go on about each song here, “Cold Grey Stone” even carries a sort of ‘Dance of December Souls‘-informed gait to its drift, but you’ve gotten the gist. There isn’t likely a dud song on ‘Exanimis‘ if you’ve vested interest in 90’s death-doom metal inspired sounds. For my own taste they’ve nailed this sound and found plenty to do with it within each of these eight well-composed pieces.

My first reaction to ‘Exanimis‘ exposure was surprise, I mean ‘Cinis‘ had been notable enough invigoration of Consecration‘s gig in terms of their riff count and quality but I’d not gone in expecting such a composed, genuine death/doom metal article in response. By voiding their sound of gothic metal flamboyance beyond a few spoken declarations and ceasing wandering, drawn-out atmospheric gesturing they’ve achieved a colder, even more dire station than before. This perfectly suits the ‘old school’ death metal apropos feeling of their work here and allows the album to seethe rather than flail in despair. It is a major highlight for death/doom metal in the first half of the year, no doubt the best release from the quintet thus far. A very high recommendation.

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