Vespers Descent – Visions In Verse   

West Australian metal act produce top notch debut

Guitarist Grant Burns and vocalist Jack Wolski are the brains behind Vespers Descent. Starting out as a four piece in mid 2001 with bassist Andrew Doepel and drummer Mark Boeijin on board, things were soon underway with their first demo and numerous local shows under their belt as they landed a couple of high profile support slots opening for Mayhem and Opeth in 2003. Their first official release, an EP titled Three Faces Of Eve, received praise around the country as the now five piece (thanks to the addition of guitarist Shannon Over) continued touring before the band parted ways with Doepel and recruited Pathogen bassist Dave Sandstrom. The band bunkered down in Sovereign Studios with Pathogen guitarist Aidan Barton behind the desk in early 2005 to record their debut effort Visions In Verse.

There are strong vibes along the lines of Dark Tranquillity that appear on Visions In Verse and they start with the opening track Dissent. It’s a solid slab of Swedish inspired melodic death metal that also shows traces of Soilwork as well. But as the album progresses to Cardinal Red and Plains Of Azure Light, the Soilwork-isms diminish and the melody and dynamics a-la Dark Tranquillity come to the surface a little more to give these songs even more character as they are belted out with biting gravel-munching vocals that blur the lines somewhere between Carcass’ Jeff Walker and Dark Tranquillity’s Mikael Stanne. Measures Of Control doesn’t stack up as strongly after the melodic guitar parts and soft acoustic midsection of Beyond The Pale.

Wedged in the middle of three strong flowing tracks, the beautiful acoustic sounds of Casa de Meurte provides the perfect interlude between the strong melodic death metal vibe of A Quantum Prayer and All That Remains and their perfect balance of aggression and melody. The clean vocals throughout the sombre chorus of Stranglehold show a different side to Wolski’s vocal ability before both Severed and The Cleansing deliver more Swedish influenced melodic death metal with the odd Carcass flavour here and there. It should come of no surprise to see a Carcass cover pop up and Vespers Descent pull off a blistering cover of This Mortal Coil (which originally featured on Carcass’ 1993 Heartwork album) that is crushingly true to the original to close out the album.

Vespers Descent has put together an absolute winner with Visions In Verse. From beginning to end (excluding the Carcass cover), the eleven original tracks deliver a quality helping of melodic death metal with the odd thrash and death metal overtones. The Carcass cover is a bonus! This one is a must for fans of melodic death metal as this one is sure to be a firm step in Vespers Descent’s rise to the forefront of Australia’s thriving metal scene.

(Prime Cuts Music/M.G.M. Distribution)

Added: February 15th 2006
Reviewer: Simon Milburn
Score:
Related Link: Official Website
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