Death metal that tends to stick with me is the type that burrows into my brain and tries to alter me psychologically. It’s always fun to be thrashed and devastated sonically with the most wicked of the metallic arts. I’m always going to be into that. But having your mind warped along the way? That’s the stuff that transforms me and never lets go.

“Deific Mourning” is the latest from Decrepisy, a band that might give off some scents of Vastum’s psycho-sexual trauma, and that’s for good reason. Guitarist/bassist Kyle House used to play with that band, and for this record, he recruited Vastum frontman Dan Butler, whose voice and histrionics are unmistakable, as well as Leila Abdul-Rauf on synth and vocals. But that doesn’t mean it’s a carbon copy or anything of the sort. It’s just a similar ambiance that the band—rounded out by lead guitarist Jonny FOD Quintana, drummer Charles Koryn, and synth/noisescape artist Gabriel Lageson—conjures here. The power and creativity are their own as they ply you with mentally stirring, sometimes cosmic death that encircles and refuses to let go. It’s a big step up from debut “Emetic Communion,” itself a strong record, and it should be a huge jumping-off point for them to accumulate more acolytes. It also should be noted House suffered from a litany of physical ailments that prevented him from playing for long stretches of time, so this record even existing is a testament to his resilience.

“Ceremony of Unbelief” opens amid smearing guitars and a crunching pace, the heaviness battling with the strange psychosis abound. The playing actually has a demented feel, mashing as growls corrode, the leads explode, and detached speaking makes chills roll down your spine. The title track is frosty as the guitars chug, bizarre riffs burn your veins, and things bubble and add thickness. The playing shimmers and melts, the growls spread ash, and the playing starts thrashing harder, the leads burst with morbid colors, and a growl/speak mix sends this to the ground. “Dysautonomic Terror” has voices warbling as the guitars glide into sludge, charred brutality washing against borders, pummeling with full force. Ghostly calls bathe in the void of light, guitars mesmerize, and calculated driving sends everything to its breaking point.

“Spiritual Decay 1/4 Dead” has guitars angling as disarming speaking feels ghoulish, growls chewing into nerves, the thrashing piling onto the slab. The pace is slower but ungodly heavy, the guitars encircle and dizzy, and a brain fog takes you over mentally. “Severed Ephemerality” scrambles to life, pulverizing with their ferocity, growls choking you to the floor. Guitars go off and slam the gas pedal, crushing and suffocating, the vocals maiming with no mercy. “Corpseless” brings deranged speaking again, the grim, chilling tidings working their way into your brain. Guitars drip as psychosis liquifies, bruising as the growls decay, the spoken verses swirling in your mind, the steam finally fading. Closer “Afterhours,” a cover of the Sisters of Mercy song, emerges from the core of the earth, chugging as the voices warp, repetition driving madly, the humidity thickening in a hurry. The playing keeps thrusting, the blade boring into the earth, guitars hanging in the air and threatening, the terror moving into the darkness. Static fries as death drives deeper, slipping out into a medicine dream.

“Deific Mourning” is grim and chilling, a brutal form of aggression that delves into the darkest, most hopeless regions of existence. Decrepisy hammer with a morbid sense of violence that easily digs into your head and scratches in its messages forever. The fact the music was created as the grips of actual physical and mental anguish took their toll adds another level of misery that wrecks your soul forever.

For more on the band, go here: https://decrepisy.bandcamp.com/album/deific-mourning

To buy the album, go here: https://carbonizedrecords.merchtable.com/search?q=decrepisy%2F

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