A skull-churning surge of obsidian blood follows the conflagration of flesh as multi-national death metal quartet UNHOLY REDEEMER brave the eyeless void, voyaging beyond quietus throughout this all-pro debut EP. Through a series of nightmarish, lumbering and aflame death metal pieces ‘Journey Beyond Death‘ demonstrates their union’s utmost standards for morbid presence and oppressive atmospheric drape, taking all cues from the best of ancient death metal. Their work here offers a grand leap in cohesive, coherent vision within this substantive and pretty well doomed EP but more importantly transports the death-addled brain to a rare immersive state.

Unholy Redeemer formed as a trio back in 2023 by way of guitarist Steven Hull (Crucifire), drummer/bassist Jarro Raphael (Nocturnal Graves), and vocalist Jens Pederson (Cerekloth), folks you probably know from the early 2010’s underground at the very least, with the goal of creating ‘old school’ styled death metal. Their first demo (‘A Fever to Dethrone All Kings‘, 2023) followed soon after with a raw gravel-caked sound and primarily mid-paced ‘Dawn of Possession‘ crawl as its core action. Soon after Tommi Grönqvist of Desecresy was added to the lineup on bass and, as far as I know, the broader collective directed this first EP more than the demo. Trudging, sinister and atmospheric ‘old school’ death metal is the end result wherein the mid-to-slow paced pummel of their movement is curated down to the last note, writ in deliberately set and patiently strung movements.

Citing early Floridian death metal, darker late 90’s Incantation-esque fare and classics-era black/death metal deep cuts as both their pedigree and shared inspiration Unholy Redeemer expound the general precepts lain within their demo throughout ‘Journey Beyond Death‘. This is especially captivating as they fire up the first two pieces on offer with opener/title track “Journey Beyond Death”, which approaches the fringes of death/doom metal as the chasm widens within its mid-point, and the slow-tanking roll of standout “Carrion of the Gods”. Those two pieces already feel like a profound leap beyond the general idea posited within ‘A Fever to Dethrone all Kings‘ wherein gloom shrouded atmosphere and a strong motif generate a proper morbid corridor for their collective sensibilities to thrive.

Sound design is thick and spacious to suit the steadily fuming pace herein, allowing for Pederson‘s imposing roars to threaten at the top of the heap while a number of rhythm guitar voices rally and roll across the middle of the mix. In terms of performance and render the drumming here dominates quite a bit as a directive force but the bass guitar tone isn’t drowned or shoved out of space, lending a ton of weight to the slow-burning tension of “Blazing Grave Cathedrals” and even getting some of its own feature on “Ever Drifting… They Wait”. There is (again) a hellish death/doom metal type entrancement which overlays each of the five songs included on ‘Journey Beyond Death‘ and the production values bring brilliantly dark setting for these actions without losing any of the precision of the quartet’s performances. It is a level of quality they should carry directly into the inevitable LP on the horizon.

Though one could probably reduce Unholy Redeemer‘s methods down to death metal canon on some level the major success of this debut EP isn’t found within the referential puzzle of its becoming so much as the level of craft and singular presence they’ve managed song over song. Not only are these pieces curated down to the last note for efficacy but they collectively bear a stoic morbidity that is all but lost upon the majority of denatured, impatiently formed meta-‘old school’ death today. The atmosphere generated here is transporting, engrossing to the point of fiery subterranean wonderment work which is convincing well beyond the norm in its purpose. They’ve set an incredibly high standard for what comes next within ‘Journey Beyond Death‘ and I couldn’t be any more stoked on their efforts here. A very high recommendation.

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