Certain kinds of death metal are the perfect accompaniment to a walk among the dead. The kind that mixes a suffocating doom with riffs that rot from the head down. Hailing from the fertile Portland scene, OSSUARIUM creates a potent if predictable serenade for your visit to the catacombs.
All the expected boxes are checked here. The “cavernous” roaring vocals, the thick and slimy riffs reeking of INCANTATION, even the ghastly cover art of Dan Seagrave. I can’t say I was surprised by any of OSSUARIUM‘s revolting tuneage, but it will surely satisfy any underground death-head’s yearning for morbid metal. The production here fits the product and, while the guitar sound is ultra-heavy, it’s not too muddy or underdone. These bone-pickers can hit with hammering force on occasion (‘Blaze of Bodies’, ‘Malicious Equivalence’) but more often they wander in the grim graveyards of doom death, as on ‘Corrosive Hallucinations’ and ‘End of Life, Dreams and Visions Pt. 2’ (yes, there is a Pt. 1 as well).
The chief lack here is any unique aspect to OSSUARIUM. More than a few bands inhabit this spectral realm, so it helps to have a twist of some kind to stand out. That twist is not apparent yet, but you can’t argue with the morbid heaviness of Living Tomb. Open the cemetery gates and begin your journey…
Reviewed By: Dr. Mality
OSSUARIUM
Living Tomb
20 Buck Spin
3.5 / 6