Review by Felix on April 28, 2019.

Extinct, the debut of Defiatory, came out of the blue and was a powerful kick in the teeth. Therefore, I had great expectations with regard to Hades Rising, but due to reasons unknown, the band has decided to reduce its level of aggression. Thrash metal is still the métier of these Swedish ruffians; however, they are at risk to drift into meaninglessness. Attention boys do not collide with The Haunted. 

No doubt, it feels good to listen to many lacerating Slayer-inspired riffs and it goes without saying that there is nothing to grumble about in terms of technical skills. This applies for both, the music and the mix. Hades Rising can rely on a powerful, clear and direct sound. Nevertheless, there are lukewarm parts or even complete tracks ("Morningstar") which lack vehemence. This is a new symptom in the musical cosmos of the protagonists and I hope they will quickly return to the stricter approach of the first album. Fortunately, some elements have remained unchanged, for example the imperious, vigorous and charismatic vocals. Furthermore, some songs grow with each new visit. Just like so many of their compatriots, Defiatory have an excellent grasp of coherent compositions. For example, the chorus of "Dance of the Dead" gives the song a very catchy touch, although its slicing riffs during the verses speak another language. Another brilliant chorus shows up in the dragging "King in Yellow", which has an oppressive, totalitarian aura due to the “Hail" background shouts of an anonymous crowd.

Unfortunately, a few other tracks fall by the wayside. "Death Takes Us All" is too modern and reminds me unpleasantly of "God Hates Us All". The melodic chorus of "Down to His Kingdom Below" reveals the weak point of this track. However, there are still enough outbursts of aggression to push the record to a solid level. Fans of albums such as "Blood in Blood Out" or "Repentless" will immediately start to play air guitar, although it is surely a tough job to copy the mostly effective solos - only the fluffy excursion on "Bane of Creation" marks an exception and reduces the penetrating power of this actually good song. So, no matter from which side one looks at Hades Rising, one thing is for sure: great musicians with an enormous potential were not able to write a flawless work. They meander between their home base (riff-driven, merciless songs that mainly hail the old school) and new territories (less narrow-minded, comparatively soft elements) without knowing exactly the place they want to stay. Consequently, the third album must be the one that gives us clarity as to whether or not these dudes want to start a journey into less combative sections. Frankly speaking, I am skeptical.

When this review was originally written I gave seven out of ten points. But as mentioned above, the album grows and tunes like the title track or "Stronger than God" (two further songs which combine catchiness and harshness excellently) are definitely worth a listen. Thus, I feel free to give a slightly better rating here - and I admit, that I am not that skeptical anymore with regard to the third full-length. Hopefully, the dudes are already working on it.

Rating: 7.6 out of 10

Review by Fran on December 20, 2020.

As much as I praise this initiative, Sempiternal Opprobrium has a well coined sound and concept after all and this demo exposes that clearly although I can’t help but feel the songs featured in this record are pretty boring. Vore is not an academic musician so you can’t expect virtuosity or progression here but his natural drumming skills make him a precise musician regarding timing. The bass and the guitars are completely unidimensional in terms of composition though: they never drift apart from each other and even if the themes are correctly executed, the melodic intervals lack taste, don’t feel thought out at all and overall are kind of rookie… art is about communication and if the melodies don’t transmit any feeling, there’s something wrong.

The options of sound modeling were wisely used though, the exaggeratedly low range from the gutturals combines perfectly with the B tuning and the fastest parts sound tight on every instrument. There are some double bass drum parts scarcely used but this band is more cavernous and slow than fast and aggressive. The same goes with the fast tremolo picking on the strings, not 100% legible but giving some sustain and mixed with that cathedral reverberation every instrument sounds huge and thick on the final tracks. The record is monotonous because the songs aren’t particularly good but you can clearly see where this band is going so it accomplishes its mission. There’s some Gregorian chant aura added to the band’s sound that isn’t limited to the vocals but feeds from their harmonization and the strings on the low end, nice touch.

I liked Sempiternal Opprobium’s second release better because the riffs were better thought out and had that ‘evil’ feeling and some groove. This album is way more plain instead but the trademark broad and roomy sounds Vore seems to like a lot are undoubtedly present.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10