THE BEAST

FFO: The Faceless, Ne Obliviscaris, Make Them Suffer

Mephala is a Dissonant Death Metal Band from New England, USA

First release since 2018, single off of our upcoming album (also by the name of Reverence). Features Greg Gilbert of Shrine of Malice

Full Review by Jake Clark of Interloper Designs 

Spirits have been low during these last few months. Anger, isolation, and dread have plagued society (along with the other literal plague) and the music scene has experienced an unprecedented blow to its survival along with it’s morale. Thankfully, these new hardships and the free-time they have spawned have inspired some incredible talent to come out of this experience with something to show. New England’s Mephala are living, breathing, screaming proof of artists’ dedication to their craft and perseverance when so many have given up. Reverence deserves nothing but its namesake. To quote a brilliant modern critic; “this slaps, dude”.

The track opens with an energetic, triumphant orchestra that sets the scene perfectly for its 5-minute runtime. Eliciting the vibe of an Elder Scrolls battle scene, very fitting considering Mephala is actually a reference to series, the panicked string section, booming percussion, and haunting choir will immediately snag the listeners attention. Lulling you into a trance, before reaching its climax and devolving into absolute madness.

The track abruptly shifts tone to a chaotic, blast-beat driven display of chunky, technical riffage and impressive vocal range. There’s a lot of back-and-forth movement between relentless energy and groove that blends so perfectly, never feeling awkward and maintaining a captivating momentum that few bands tend to obtain.

The vocals on this track hit every point of the Extreme vocal spectrum, exemplifying obvious technical proficiency while absolutely creating a distinct, personalized tone. It’s not often you can offer emotion into this style of vocal work without sacrificing quality, but it’s achieved in Reverence (as well as the rest of Mephala’s work, assumingly). Shrine of Malice ’s Greg Gilbert brings a powerful, disgusting vocal feature that fits so perfectly into this track’s composition and compliments Isaac Campbell’s performance like they were made for eachother. Greg, well-known for his outstanding vocals, adds even more dynamics to this already densely crafted track. From both, it’s so refreshing to hear high screams in a song again that aren’t only there to show off tunnel throat technique. (We all wanted to sound like Dickie Allen. That album came out 4 years ago, it’s time to try to rip somebody else off.)

The vicious, energetic tone stays consistent throughout the track, only briefly coming to a more rhythm-centric sequence towards the end with an absolutely disgusting (in a good way!) vocal lead. I personally expected a big, nasty, Barbecue-flavored Breakdown, but the payoff is just as good. Once again, defying the expectations of modern Metal. The vibe is meant to be rabid and triumphant, and this track succeeds tremendously.

Mephala have created a phenomenal composition and accompanied it with a badass Blackened Death Metal performance. For a longer song, it doesn’t drag or feel repetitive whatsoever. There’s a new riff, rhythm, tone, or slight adjustment every couple of seconds that tie everything together coherently and only briefly relents when absolutely necessary. The musicianship displayed is astonishing, the level of raw talent possessed by these 3 fucking mad lads is humbling to any artist. The production value, courtesy of Key Recordings , makes this track feel so massive and alive. It builds immeasurable hype for their upcoming album Reverence; this being just a taste of what’s sure to be an incredible release.

Without a doubt, give this track a listen. It has a little something for everybody, especially those craving Blackened Death Metal with more emphasis on the “Blackened” aspect of things. Self-isolation will have a really good soundtrack by the end of 2020, and this will absolutely be a part of it.

Links: 

Merch - https://www.storefrontier.com/mephala

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MephalaNE

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mephala.ne/

Bandcamp - https://mephalane.bandcamp.com/track/reverence-feat-greg-gilbert

E-mail - mephalaofficial@gmail.com