The tunneling gnaw of the desecrator below terrifies throughout this sophomore full-length album from Temuco, Chile-based death metal quartet DECONSEKRATED who go on chewing through the carrion of the downward-ascendant and biting loose the sinew that binds the point of release beyond death. Amping their structural hand while sustaining a boiling, distempered pace throughout the band achieve an exceptional refinement-by-integration on ‘The Inexorable Transcendence of Death‘, merging both atmospheric and thrashing death metal elements found on their debut unto one unholy form herein. The result is an imposing, oftentimes inventive trample through dark death metal sounds which achieves a brilliantly morbid stature and an engrossing experience overall.

Formed as a duo, briefly under the name Deconsecrate, back in 2020 Deconsekrated managed a few minor releases amidst a small number of lineup changes during their first few formative years. In review of their debut full-length album (‘Ascension in the Altar of Condemned‘, 2024) I’d described the band’s general style as relevant to “the more wrathful Incantation-esque species of Chilean death metal” b/w their own sense of slugged-up pacing, mentioning of ‘Covenant‘ and ‘Mortal Throne of Nazarene‘ as touchstones for their atmospheric yet brutal approach to occult death metal. Though I’d dinged the record for being fairly brief it holds up as a cavernous but wrathfully hammered-out introduction with great balance between spacious and congested modes. This is essentially the basis for any expectations heading into album number two, some manner of expansion beyond a nearly-there debut.

With ‘The Inexorable Transcendence of Death‘ we find Deconsekrated a more complete quartet with Padaviast of black metal band Kasbeel added on second guitar and drummer Rigor Mortis returning for the full session this time. This perceived steadiness translates to an album which is more concerned with its channeling flow rather than generating abrupt or sharply contrasting forms, leaving behind some of the more protracted doomed sidebars for the sake of more readily connected classicist death metal informed tracts. Their taste for east coast USDM is still very clear in its foundational role in riffcraft but this time around aggression is both consistent and longer sustained, echoing some earlier Deicide-esque riffs in the first half and later on their slower-wrought atmospheric pieces appear to echo the graven hand of Sadistic Intent here and there.

While the lack of extended headier moments might put disappoint some returning fans on paper in practice this simply means Deconsekrated get to the point quicker and leave no riff behind. That said opener “Purgative Procession” is less a gate-crashing beginning and moreso a protracted warning before the thrashing assault of “Drowned in the Deep Waters of Phlegethon” hits at gut level. Call-and-response rhythms generate dizzied phrases abutted with dissonant change-ups and sinister leads circling overhead, marking a notable shift in authorship compared to the band’s first LP delivered with a comparatively furious directness; The transition between “Drowned in the Deep Waters of Phlegethon” and blasting n’ crawling standout “Terrifying Manifestation of Malevolence” offers one of my favorite linkages between pieces on album.

Though Deconsekrated‘s work is admittedly familiar in tone and construct, less a unique combination of elemental bodies and moreso a ramping of technique and authorship, their approach continues to evolve as they hand the baton to Side B. The dissonant ‘Dawn of Possession‘-esque downward turning grooves of “Poisoned Flesh (Mark of the Sinister Path)” consistently caught my attention from the first listen for its militantly struck percussive movements and the modulation within. “Under the Rotten Shroud” after it signals the band looking to expand their vernacular without stifling the flow through ‘The Inexorable Transcendence of Death‘. The break around ~2:14 minutes into the piece where discordance wraps around the neck of their rhythms lends a curious break to the otherwise trampling piece. A sort of signature ‘Covenant‘ style crawler from the band taken to an almost Angelcorpse level of intensity here and there. These pieces make the best argument here that these folks intend a diabolically evolved being to arise within thier second round without landscaping away fundaments.

The remaining two songs which flesh out Side B uphold the pace and punish of the full listen without any too-wild surprises in hand. Though I’d found the main riff on “Oracula Sanguinis” slightly similar to some of their previous work it was closer “Through the Graves’ Portals” that set the album alight in its third act with its inching, thrashed-out rhythms darting between slower droning doomed passages. The thread achieved within that final piece felt like a true evolution of Deconsekrated‘s debut albeit with more coherent structure helping it to land as heavily as it does. Otherwise the full listen remedies most every complaint I’d lodged toward ‘Ascension in the Altar of Condemned‘ and reads as a complete thought and delivers a well-rounded pure death metal experience in total.

In mucking through the morass of irreligious doom-and-harass ‘The Inexorable Transcendence of Death‘ creates I’d been enthralled with the style of the album nearly as much as I’d appreciated the level of refinement available to Deconsekrated‘s skill-up in the interim. Without marring the temperamental, clearly more polarized fuming of the band’s debut this follow-up appears all the more serious a result, a work enthralled by the morbidity it conjures while yet landing in a familiar enough headspace for the knowing dark death metal ear. A high recommendation.

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