Album Review: Dead World Reclamation – Aura of Iniquity (Self Released)

Melodic death metal band, Dead World Reclamation have been active since 2017 and previously released their first album, Sentient, in October of 2017. Fast-forward to 2021, and they’ve has grown into an entirely different beast ready to take over the world.

Their brand-new album ‘Aura of Iniquity’ will be released on April 23rd 2021.

Dead World Reclamation comments:

We’re five guys who love both Death Metal and a good story, therefore Aura of Iniquity is a series of short stories told in Death Metal format. Roaming through tales of dark bargains with otherworldly beings made for power untold, forests where gargantuan spiders dictate the law of the land, to necromancy told from the viewpoint of the body possessed. While our musical influences are definitely reflected in our songs, we tried to approach this album with the mindset of just creating music we’d love to listen to. We feel we’ve grown immensely since our first release, Sentient, and hope you all enjoy the album as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Layering orchestral elements throughout but staying focused on delivering a savage display of heaviness, Dead World Reclamation impress on this new album. An authentic sounding blast of brutality with cleverly portrayed technicality. It’s a gripping start with Ripped from the Grave and Embrace the Hive.

The agitated speed of the instruments is one thing but the thickness of the heaviness is another. Even the orchestral power, while sparingly used too, can’t overshadow what is such destructive viciousness. Mind you, those elements are what makes it less cloying as melodic drops such as found on The Everlasting Hunt and Pantheons of Shadows have some levity.

While that side of things is great and Dead World Reclamation handle it well, it’s the coarse ferocious detail that most will remember. The stuff that makes Heralds of the Formless One feel a few steps short of black metal and has Arachnocratic Assemblage spurt with life-affirming guitar solos.

A darker groove and choppy Gojira-style guitar rhythm, Whispers of the Evergloom is a technical masterpiece. Whereas The Void Bargain jumps between screeching fury and classy winding hooks that dig in nice and deep. Dead World Reclamation showcasing so much variety in this album that no two songs sound the same beyond being unmerciful in regards to heaviness.

It’s with much disappointment, even though it’s a substantial album, that things must end. Happily, Dead World Reclamation make sure they go out with as big a bang as they begun with. Those Born of Suffering being the perfect example of how well orchestral grandeur and brutal death metal can mesh together. Whereas Plaguemaster’s Legacy begins with poignant violins and shortly descends into a pit of despair for one final blast of fury.

An excellent album and the bar setter for modern melodic death metal.

Dead World Reclamation – Aura of Iniquity Full Track Listing:

1. Ripped from The Grave
2. Embrace the Hive
3. The Everlasting Hunt
4. Pantheon of Shadows
5. Heralds of the Formless One
6. Arachnocratic Assemblage
7. Whispers of the Evergloom
8. The Void Bargain
9. Those Born of Suffering
10. Plaguemaster’s Legacy

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