Undergang‘s three new songs showcase a rotten mixture of the brutality of the grinding drums brought by the essence of rawness, the sheer quality of Copenhagen’s outfit, who keep their modus operandi at the most disgusting and brutal level, and the extreme ability to deliver fast tempos. The fact that there are so many chunky riffs effectively coming in such precision and the sickening guttural growls reveal the nauseating nature of the riff-work. Kicking off with Undergang’s opening track “I l​æ​sket kalk” creeps in the down-tuned guitars, and a slab of organic drums unfolding the grimy atmosphere.

The versatile sound of the guitars creates the murky kind of death metal that made Undergang known. And while the riffing is flawlessly molded with the convulsed tone of the bass guitar, “Fæl rådden død” pushes for a hideous growling and ultra-brutal obscure riffing. The density of the bass guitar adds layers to the double bass kick drums, Undergang’s trademark morphs from mid-tempo to offer some crushing sections. The grunts and the growls just feel like they’re emanating from a filthy sewage, and covered with an assortment of festering riffs. The riffing is firmly rooted in the NY style of death metal brought to brutalize you by oppressive drum beats, the sonic bondage engulfing the bass guitar turbulence as the shredding guitars ooze purulent air.

The growls are ridden with a pungent breath and thus, Undergang’s aural experience festers into some noteworthy slow sections. What we get are some of the highlight moments of obscure death/doom metal passages, the slow bludgeoning of the drums, and the dark undertones that create a haunting atmosphere. The ugliness of the low grunts evolves into a frightening coldness and gives us a spectacle of a horror film.

Barbaric riffs are put on constant display at the range of the bludgeoning drums, shifting to straightforward propulsion which excels in different tempos. The raw, thick production of the three songs enhances the riffing work and grabs attention with every monster riff unleashed by the shift between tremolos. The drumming work is extremely vulgar and consistent at creating the right momentum that is brutal and crushing. Despite the trademark sound quality of the Danish band, the guitars craft some slow passages which are full of hooks, and they’re followed by relentless brutal drumming.

The final cut in this split release features Colorado’s death/doom band Spectral Voice and treats the fans with some lumbering slow riffs, stimulating the prolonged track “Craving Final Impasse” into the funereal pace of funeral doom. It begins with a slow echo of a fading sound that draws you to the guitar chug. Spectral Voice’s gloomy persona ensures its creepy experience, despite the track sounding different from what the band has offered in its first studio album “Eroded Corridors of Unbeing”. The atmosphere in this fourteen minutes long track sprawl in the sepulchral and ghostly terrain, while building a slower pace throughout the course as it gorges something monolithic and unearthly, the shambling of the drumming burrows the classic element of funeral doom combining low sinister shrieks. The dark undertones swell cold and deep when the chugging guitars and drums break the sluggish rhythm, gradually bringing some nightmarish guitar effects and painting a desolate landscape. The instruments create a massive wall of sound midway through the song that somehow defines the cavernous sound of the band in forging some unsettling moments.

Tremolos are utilized, and the drumming is quite unpredictable in adding unsettling imagery of a ghostly, dark realm. With the echoes of the drifting growls in the slower moments perfectly contrasting with the heavy crushing riffs, the atmosphere is somewhat bleak and opaque as the cavernous tone of the guitars. The bass guitar pulsates deeply, coming into an alignment with the gloomy melancholic atmosphere, in which the guitars emphasize the dark and the impenetrable wall of sound. The music is bereft of any kind of melody, but the swarthy undertone adds uniqueness to the otherworldly feel of the music. There is also some kind of balance achieved through the slow doomy paces of the drums to enhance the bizarre reverb of a darker tone. The shambling gait of the drums builds up uncanny crescendos where it conjures an atmospheric ambiance before falling into a void of absolute darkness.