The ‘90s were both a wonderous and tragic time for brutal death metal. On the one hand, bands such as GORGUTS, IMMOLATION and ENTOMBED were carving literal canyons in the earth in their pangs to twist this intentionally misshapen toddler that was Death Metal into an even more malformed being. And on the other, bands whose names aren’t deserving of mention were playing Pick Your Bandwagon with whatever sound seemed to shift the most units, and usually getting screwed over by their record labels to make room for the miasma of dung that was to be 1994 or so and beyond. LORD GRYPHUS seeks to bury the frail skeletons of that time period and all false who came after under the psalm of stench that is Summoning The King Of Death.

Some – I for one – question spending nearly 2 minutes of an album so brief in an intro, but what pulls back the black curtain is fitting, a slow drawing aside of a barrier – be it psychological or physical – to reveal ‘The Grand Spectacle’. Instantly GRAVE comes to mind, the swaggering bravado of its more rock-influenced moments before crashing headlong into ANGELCORPSE fury, certainly birthed of the oppressive heat and 11-month-long Texas summers. ‘Banished Leper’ rhythms slice the air like helicopter blades, and it’s here that confirms the threesome is more interested in the ground ‘n’ pound style of death than anything overtly technical or self-aggrandizing ala MORBID ANGEL post-Damnation. It suits them, though, and what the threesome “lacks” in wankery it more than makes up for with rabid rage.

Rife with choppy riffwork and abusive rhythm, ‘Sharpening The Guillotine’ delivers a killing blow, memorable at its onset, and decapitating throughout. ‘Unholy Mace’ brings the bass to the foreground in the mix, DISMEMBER’s Where Iron Crosses Grow and certain DEICIDE becoming reference points, while the penultimate title track drags us down to not-quite-but-almost doom in its weighty beginning, soon churlishly churning in a sea of convulsive guitars and propulsive drums. Oh, and there’s a cover of ‘Troops Of Doom’ by some Brazilian band or other.

In all, Summoning The King Of Death is a solid first showing. I’m interested to see if the next album will find LORD GRYPHUS attempting to expand its range, but I’m also hoping it doesn’t.
Doing their part to make the Lone Star black…
Review By: Lord Randall

LORD GRYPHUS
Summoning The King Of Death
Nespithe

Summon HERE