Review by Alex on December 18, 2020.

I remember hearing Depravity's 2018 album and being absolutely baffled at the intensity it emitted while using various metal influences from bands traits to genre habits and still managed to emerge with an identity of their own. In retrospect they sounded very assertive and sure about what they were doing with their death metal formula. Apart from being a semi-technical, brutal, Suffocation inspired band, their sound has always stood out to me as being a true representation of brutality when taking into account their consistently quaking resonance. Looking into the current matter that is Depravity's latest album, Grand Malevolence, one can expect more of the same that was on Evil Upheaval but with a more devastating approach and some oddities thrown in on the demolition site.

Its become a more noticeable thing that Depravity's music has become a bit more tighter and as mentioned before, quaking. And a lot of this could be easily attributed to the seismic reach of the vocals used on the record. You take that and bundle it with the crushing drum and bass combo and you've got an album that clobbers its way into the major league of modern, brutal death metal. But don't get too excited all you folks having nothing better to do than populate the metal genre with your new bands; there's more to it than just having a heavy sound, you need some great riffs in between all that meat-beating (no silly not that kind) and some sort of semblance with regards to song connectivity.

Depravity are capable of delivering both in abundance; check out 'Indulging Psychotic Thoughts' and my favorite track off Grand Malevolence, 'Cantankerous Butcher'. These two songs not only pound and plaster your toes to the cold concrete but they toss the salt on your wounds with some insane riffing that makes me wonder if Depravity's guitarists were doing white lines at the time of contriving them. After all it's been a lockdown for what, 7 months now? What better fun during such a depressing time than to contact your local Johnsons and Johnsons supplier for a few ounces of that angelic stuff and write some riffs. The strategy was clear with this album, squash the listeners' brains with boulders and bricks for blast beats then extinguish their beaten remains with glass sharp, shredding that'd slice those remnants to atomic sub-particles.

The intensity grows as you're stomped down the order; 'Castrate the Perpetrators' and 'The Coming of the Hammering' (now that's a track title to frame) keep the middle section of Grand Malevolence interesting by switching up the pace a bit more often with well timed transitions to either slower break's but not at the sacrifice of the mauling pounds at the drum kit as the bass jockeys the bludgeoning waves. Meanwhile, songs down the order like 'Epitome of Extinction' and 'Ghost in the Void' execute the finishing maneuvers with climaxing riffs on the guitar and surgical strokes at the kit. And while you'd be familiar with this sort of thing advancing through the album there are some treats available for the attentive listener, such as the sprinkles of black metal riffing that somewhat adds a contrasting seasoning aura to the atmosphere and outlook of Grand Malevolence.

For some reason also the vocals sound a lot more furious, almost mental in some cases, for instance when those scraping screams tear out from the the bashing growls; don't know what happened in between 2018 and the time of recording the new album, but damn, something's got the vocalist's gears ticking. A bit sinister, selfish and unemphatic of myself, but I hope he brings the same pissed off attitude to the next Depravity album. Tremor like drumming, savage riffing and ransacking yells into the microphone; pretty br00tal to me, Grand Malevolence sounds like the cover art would have you believe.

Rating: 8.7 out of 10