Album Review: Vanhelgd – Deimos Sanktuarium (Pulverised Records)

The significance of true Swedish Dark Metal now lies in torchbearers Vanhelgd on their fifth full-length record “Deimos Sanktuarium”! With the band’s unwavering style of obscure Death / Doom heavily drenched in riffs of dejection, Mattias Frisk & co. are determined to clobber out some of the most heaviest yet forlorn extreme music in the recent years.

The album will be released on October 12th 2018 via Pulverised Records.

A momentous level of heaviness, Vanhelgd’s new album is one that will leave you with dark and sour thoughts. Not because it is badly done but because it delivers such a destitute level of extreme metal. This is feel-bad music but incredibly appealing none the less.

It helps that that Vanhelgd make their style of death and doom heaviness seem so easy. From the blackened dominance that Så förgås världens härlighet shows to the unrelenting devilish assault of Profaned Is The Blood Of The Covenant, Deimos Sanktuarium is harsh on the mind.

Keeping things consistently dour, The Ashes of Our Defeat’s doomy riffs are skin-crawling. The rhythm droning on to the point of madness. The Silent Observer is anything but quiet as the guttural vocals horrify and Här finns ingen nåd closes out the album with a bit more complexity while retaining the bleak scope of the entire album.

Vanhelgd’s consistency here is a major reason why this album impresses so much. While the formula rarely changes, there is plenty in each track that makes them stand out on their own while retaining the overall theme of heavy melancholy.

Vanhelgd – Deimos Sanktuarium Full Track Listing:

1. A Plea For Divine Necromancy
2. Så förgås världens härlighet
3. Vi föddes i samma grav
4. Profaned Is The Blood Of The Covenant
5. The Ashes Of Our Defeat
6. The Silent Observer
7. Här finns ingen nåd

You can order Deimos Sanktuarium over on Vanhelgd’s website, via Pulverised Records here and Season of Mist here. Find out more and keep up to date with news by checking out Vanhelgd’s Facebook Page.