Universally Estranged – Reared Up in Spectral Predation (Real Cosmic Death Metal)

 

I knew this shit was going to be deep. Actually, better to say I knew it wanted to be deep, because it’s trying out that “cosmic death metal” thing. Whether or not it was was up to the task depended on my blackholes (ears) and my existential consumption of conflagration (brain). See? Deep shit right there. Plus this one-man filth act goes ALL CAPS when he wants to explain himself. A blurb, taken from a shirt for sale, no less, reads: ““A STRIKE FROM A HIDDEN ENTITY FILLS ALL GUTS WITH MIND.” Oh shit son. So if one is taking such a stance, you better be bringing some true galactic mayhem. If I don’t find my guts have been “filled with mind” after a song or two, you’re done and do not deserve to claim cosmic dominance in death metal.

   

Lol, nevermind, I’m convinced. Reared Up in Spectral Predation is good to go on filling the guts with mind in about two seconds. The extremely bizarre intro is almost all of this dude’s thoughts forming into the album proper; Universally Estranged is true to his moniker, to get to the point. When I hear “cosmic death metal” that usually means shitty keyboards that practically bridge the gap with power metal, which trust me does not need bridged. This, however, is something from another world. Universally Estranged bends riffs into wormholes, pulls his roars from antimatter, crushes time signatures like a supernova, this is absolutely big bang shit right here. Like I wouldn’t have thought the genre existed until this dude came into being through some sort of planetary cataclysm. Truly unique, and that’s quite a lot for me to say with so much shit trying to do what he accomplishes in seconds. For once, it’s reality.

 

Universally Estranged Official Bandcamp

Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

Universally Estranged – Reared Up in Spectral Predation
Blood Harvest Records
Cover Art: Lucas Corte
4.8 / 5