Review by Jeger on November 3, 2024.

You can argue all day as to what is and what is not true death metal. Some enthusiasts claim that Chuck Schuldiner’s vision for DM as realized through Death’s debut “Scream Bloody Gore” LP and the successive rise of outfits such as Cannibal Corpse & Obituary are what testify to genre trueness, while others claim that Jeff Becerra’s Possessed, their debut, “Seven Churches” LP, and the inception of bands like Morbid Angel & Deicide are what makeup DM’s true foundation. I’m inclined to agree with the latter. I mean, Possessed did release their very first demo recording, “Death Metal”, in 1984… 

France’s death metal scene is an oft-overlooked movement; overshadowed by the US and Swedish scenes, which is naturally understandable, as no one does death metal better than us Americans and the Swedes. That being said, France’s Mercyless have been doing the DM thing since 1987 - diabolical visionaries of the genre whose ideas fall in line with the notion that true death metal is indeed Satanic and blasphemous in nature. Their discography features eight full-length studio LPs. Number eight, Those Who Reign Below, was spawned in Daemon seed and shat from the Great Whore’s vile womb on October 25, 2024, under the gaze of the nefarious Osmose Productions.

Those Who Reign Below is a record of antediluvian proportions: evil and blasphemous, Satanic and Biblical with tracks like 'Phantoms Of Cain' and 'Zechariah 3:1' that dive into Christian concepts like Daemon cock through divine uteri - blasphemy of their precious doctrines - a sinful slight against the Book of Lies! Morbid Angel worship and production quality as malleable and textured as their famed “Blessed Are The Sick” LP. Not quite as technical though and with more of a focus on melody as evidenced by the melodious solo in 'Evil Shall Come… Upon You' and the intro to 'The Resplendent Inferno'. All tracks ornamented with thrash-laden passages reminiscent of “Pleasure To Kill” era Kreator, but not enough in my opinion to label it a death / thrash metal album. Not much in the way of modern-day bells & whistles either, only wisely-composed death metal that harkens back to the salad days of the early ’90s when the genre was at its apex. 

You can tell by each album cut’s segmented passages and intelligently interjected solos that this is a band of veterans. There’s discipline here; the kind of patient, less-is-more songwriting that only comes with experience. Mercyless really focuses on creating an experience that you genuinely want to relive again and again, and at just over 40 minutes of runtime, they wear not out their welcome, but provide a record that’s accessible to all levels of death metal connoisseurship: memorable riffs, wailing leads and a myriad of varying rhythmic patterns, but put together in a way that makes sense. A little more bass wouldn’t have killed anyone though… 

To cross over from the realm of gore into Hell’s enthralling fires! Diabolical energy coursing through each second - the kind of shit that never gets old. Gore-based death metal rarely hits the sweet spot for this ole boy anymore, but this shit just never loses its value. Death metal for torchlit Bibles and the desecration of holy things. Just what we need in this infectious age of Christian progressivism and Mega Churches. Lest we forget the importance of this art and its purpose! And to have it packaged so profoundly within the capsule of true death metal? Doesn’t get much sweeter. Mercyless - a true-to-form collective that has been a reliable source of viable DM as of late and showing no signs of retreat or weakness. Raise your chalice of blasphemy high! A salute to infernal truth and an admonishment of holy guise. Those Who Reign Below is true… fucking… death metal from start to finish. 

Rating: 8 out of 10