Vastum "Hole Below"

    Creeping across the Bay Area like the shrouded fog of impending doom, Vastum purges the land with a behemoth death metal sound. Their new full-length offering, “Hole Below,” takes listeners on an old school death metal trip through brutal riff battle fields and skull crushing sinister ritualistic rhythms.

    Being from the Bay Area, I am proud to hear a band crafting such an extreme old school sound. I hear influences ranging from such greats as Bolt Thrower, Autopsy, Entombed and Master. When first listening to Vastum one can hear a very straightforward death metal sound, yet even pick up on elements of black metal and sludge. Overall, this album’s sound is captured in a brilliant manner which gives the band a vicious edge. Each of the six songs on this release conjures up some massive amounts of raw musical expression.

    Starting off the album is the track, “Sodomitic Malevolence. How can one go wrong with a song called, “Sodomitic Malevolence?!” Distorted noises slowly come screaming in and eventually explode into a forceful riff. The drums feverishly pound away to the main rhythm. Vastum’s overall sound is extremely dark and bombastic on this release. Songs like “Amniosis” instantly lay down aggressive verse riffs with vocals of tortured death growls. The artistic expression is down right unforgiving and undeniably heavy. I especially enjoy the mammoth sounding distorted guitar riffs that can lead to some wicked solos.

    Track number three, “In Sickness and in Death,” screams old school death metal, but also offers that bone chilling death doom vibe. The following track, “Intrusions,” starts out with a slow sinister pounding guitar riff. The guitar sounds like the footsteps of a giant coming out of his cave ready to unleash vengeance upon a village of fear stricken villagers. “Hole Below,” continues to show the band holding true to that raw death metal sound and keeping the brutality going strong. The album’s final track, “Empty Breast,” was one of my favorites. Vastum really put thought into the song and deliverers a creative morbid musical creation. The song’s tone and presentation is relentless to the bitter end.

    What more is there to say about Vastum’s new release, “Hole Below?” ...How can I keep you people from listening to such a solid extreme music?! Literally, stop reading this review and check out Vastum! Bay Area old school style death metal keeping the raw aggression alive with no remorse and plenty of heavy riffs to scare the neighbors.

Vastum Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Vastum-440192535391/?fref=ts