The abrasive conglomeration of atmospheric and technical death metal can be seen as an inspiration since the band includes the bass guitar of Vektor, the guitarist of Mortuous and the drummer of Laceration. Thus, the composition fully incorporates the mysteriousness of the slow passages. ‘Senescence’ tackles dark and twisted forms of death metal.

And this is to say that Vile Rites’ first studio album bares an eerie resemblance to the ilk of The Chasm, Stargazer and Unaussprechlichen Kulten, but mind if I tell you that the trio truly manifests its technical abilities to present the fluidity of the instrumentation and the complexity of the atmosphere where it slowly directs the listener’s focus towards the dark, atmospheric passages.

The slow drumming in the opening track ‘Only Silence Follows’ begins flawlessly with the guitars contrasting the cavernous growls. The real deal here is the ability of the bass guitar that reminds me of bands like VoidCeremony to create a texture for the ear, and the layered guitar solos, filled with pounding drum fills. The growls range from deep bellows to malicious black/doom metal-influenced shrieks. What caught my attention the most is the whopping sounds of the atmosphere created by the guitars.

The pace of the drums shifts from brutal death metal bludgeoning to sophisticated drum fills. The technicality of the instruments is unleashed on the following track ‘Senescent’. Mid-tempo changes shift frequently amid the guttural bellows, with blast beats and bass guitar honing a meticulous sound. Therefore, the song craft and atmosphere involve an affective detail showcasing the guitar technique.

The talent for playing slow and mid-tempo sonic grotesqueries is meticulously achieved. The riffing variation and the drums blast at full speed on ‘Shiftless Wanderings’. Stylistically, Vile Rites  has constructed a shape-shift sound identity. The riffs evoke progressive and technical death metal and are filled with ridden vicious growls. Even though the songs sound gloomy and menacing at times. The arousing elements of thrash metal and the guitar work on these songs are innovative as they build a sense of progression.

Vile Rites delivers a visceral performance in the short instrumental track ‘Ephemeral Reverie of Eroded Dreams’ which somehow provides an atmospheric extension to the previous song and conveys a rich and deep ambiance for the gloomy guitar work. The fretless bass guitar performance is catchy enough to hold your attention and vibrates amid the swirling riffs. The powerful drumming is in full swagger and carries the weight of the echoing growls in the eight-minute track ‘Transcendent Putrefaction’.

Vile Rites wields a complex craft in the first album. Later, the emphasis lays on the eeriness of atmospheric death metal, with a sound filled with foreboding darkness. The progressive elements dominate the slower passages where the feeling of unease is mainly emphasized. The use of the guitar chords paints an ominous mood, and it is then when the instrumentation wields something complex.

Blasting percussion and shrieks, which are very much black metal like, infuse the oceanic landscape of the fretless bass guitar in the background and the extreme riffing shifting to progressive death metal. The eleven-minute cut ‘Banished to Solitude (Adrift on the Infinite Waves)’ is built on powerful blasting double bass with a chunky and fat guitar tone and galloping riffs combining blast beats.

Every riff pattern on ‘Senescence’ holds to the aesthetics of progressive death metal that modern bands such as Vile Rites seem to explore in these untrodden, aural spheres.

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