Last week, I spent hours in the relentless heat and sun helping dear friends move into a new apartment that should be a fresh start for them. That said, carrying heavy boxes up stairs in a warm hallway for hours has taken a physical toll on me, and it’s a massive reminder I’m not a young man any longer. I don’t recover like I used to in the past.

Progressive death metal dreamers Vile Rites named their first full-length “Senescence,” the process of physical deterioration that occurs as a person ages. Sure, you can exercise or do other activities to help slow that decline, but it’s going to catch up with you some day. It’s an odd title for a record that’s so full of exciting new ideas, spacey expansion, and pushing death metal even further into jarring waters that wash over you with chilling fury, the furthest thing from losing power and stopping growth. The band—vocalist/guitarist Alex Miletich; bassist/synth player/field recording master Stephen Coon; drummer Aerin Johnson—treads paths once trampled by the likes of Morbus Chron and Blood Incantation, but in their own way that’s unique to them. This is the first glimpse of a band that’s bound to be one of the sub-genre’s great creators for a long time to come.

“Only Silence Follows” opens amid cold notes, hypnosis setting in, which is a hint of what’s ahead. The bass bends as the hammering picks up, the soloing erupting as the growls dig into flesh. Cosmic synth wraps you in a coat of stars as speed becomes a greater factor, ripping out into the stars. “Senescent” is tricky and crunchy when it starts, heavy blows landing with force, drubbing and causing dizzying feelings. The playing pulls back and adds a chill to the air, fluid leads take off and create a laser effect, techy melodies flex muscles. The bass quivers as the sounds turn on a dime, ending in progressive waters. “Shiftless Wanderings” buzzes and engorges, the bass again exuding power, the growls mangling as the riffs soar through the air. Soloing boils as the tempo thrashes hard, the playing growing in urgency, growls tearing strips of flesh as chaos melts into tributaries.

“Ephemeral Reverie of Eroded Dreams” in an eerie interlude that has alien tentacles and icy intent, strange synth and soaked guitars making it feel like you’ve been drenched in an all-day storm. “Transcendent Putrefaction” has the bass chewing into muscle, keys wooshing, and heavy body blows aiming to take you down. Growls engorge as the temperatures shift to a deep freeze, the guitars erupting and letting carnage reign, beastly howls and gutting death smearing psychosis. Closer “Banished to Solitude (Adrift on the Infinite Waves)” is the longest track, running 11:11, and the track blasts and contorts, sudden brutality slashing as progressive fires are fed gallons of fuel. The vocals scar as the decimation continues, the drums pasting with violence, whispering chilling as the playing calms. Bludgeoning madness arrives as the sounds bathe in moonlight and blood, hazy, moody guitars melting time and encircling the clouds.

Vile Rites’ progressively minded death metal is a refreshing gust of energy, and while “Senescence” may be named after a process of physical deterioration, it feels like the band is just beginning a life cycle that could begin to rewrite this style’s DNA. This first full-length builds off what they created before and demonstrates a tenacity and musical violence that is enthralling the first listen and only multiplies from there. This is one of the best debuts of the year so far, and I can only imagine what this band will sound like a half decade from now once they full grow into their forms.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/VileRites

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://carbonizedrecords.com/search?q=vile+rites&options%5Bprefix%5D=last

Or here (Europe): https://carbonizedrecordseu.com/

For more on the label, go here: https://carbonizedrecords.com/