Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

I don't remember how I came into possession of this album, and I didn't particularly care for it at first. It took several listens and some further research of the band to get more into it. Initially the album just sounds like a mess, and when I first acquired it, it didn't appeal to my tastes in metal so much as it does now. Having listened to it several more times I can see how wrong I was about this album in the past.

Its very heavy, and very brutal quite simply put. It epitomizes the whole brutal death metal genre with it's content, and so much more than simple slams at varying speeds with pinch harmonics. What you get with this album is pounding brutality in each track with plenty of tremolo picked riffs in each track that pack a violent punch. The whole album plays through with very crunchy and violent guitar riffs that tend to be very catchy, and you'll be pleasantly greeted by a very well played guitar solo in the second track. There are slams on this album, but they're catchy and not over done and are accompanied by the over used pinch harmonic. The slams tend towards adding a repetitive feel which gets annihilated upon the powerful tremolo and thrashy riffing that brings one back to Morbid Angel at times. The bass shines through only in how much brutality it adds to this album. The bassist churns along adding such a heavy quality to each track, but you won't hear anything special from the bassist because the bass isn't very high up in the production.

At times you can hear when the guitarist and bassist make mistakes, which cuts away from the quality, but adds an element of brutality. The drummer pounds away with very dull drumming, his drumming sounds like what you can hear with so many other death metal bands and it tends to take from the brutal quality, another problem is that the drums are tuned rather low and it adds a flatness to the brutality. The vocalist utilizes the same very low guttural growls throughout the whole of the album without ever changing pitch. The vocals add another flat layer to the album, but they're well performed none the less. What helps the vocals shine are the brutal and somewhat poetic lyrics that play through out the album, and it is very difficult to understand what she is saying with the depth of her guttural growls.

Despite sounding relatively flat and bordering upon monotonous noise, this whole album is very brilliant nonetheless. It may have a few bad qualities, but they don't cut away from it so much that it falls flat on its face. The whole album all through out stays fast, brutal, and heavy as hell. It'll surely keep any death metal fan satisfied for a time before they need to get their music fix elsewhere. Its certainly a great album, and let us hope this band has further releases in the future that yield better sound quality and consistency.

Man, talk about exceeding expectations. 'Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam', the debut release from Puerto Rican band Dismal Divinity, is a stunning opening volley from this five-piece. The art might make you think of an epic, oldschool death/thrash band, but what you'll hear when you put this disc in is ULTRA-brutal death metal in the vein of newer Brodequin with some oldschool Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel touches! Really, if that description doesn't make you immediately want to run out (figuratively, you'll have to get it online unless you live in Puerto Rico) and buy it, you're not my friend and I'd like you to stop reading this review now. But if you must, FINE, I don't have to fucking impress you.

This is some BRUTAL death metal here. Almost impossibly so. This almost reminds me of Enmity's 'absolute brutality at all costs' mindset during the purest, most grinding blast sections, but Dismal Divinity is able to pack a surprising amount of variation into these violent songs. Tempo changes and breaks are frequent, even occasionally breaching the gates of slow, epic, doom-influenced sections, right before bursting back into utterly savage hyperspeed death metal. Some parts that could be loosely described as breakdowns are present, but this music isn't really related to Devourment or other artists of the slam ilk; it's mostly pure, brutal death metal. Think of it as a more interesting and creative version of Hate Eternal, or what Hate Eternal is striving to be but never reaches. Every element on this album is designed to be dark, menacing, and destructive, with an atmosphere of medieval war about it.

The production job on this album is amazing; it's not crystal clear, but it fits the style of music perfectly. There's a slightly claustrophobic jumbling of instrumental sound, like the whole band is playing very fast and very loud in a small closet; it sounds like a live recording. There's a certain looseness in timing and structure which makes 'Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam' that much more barbaric in tone. It could be said that this is more influenced by oldschool death metal than other modern brutal death bands; some midpaced passages like Cannibal Corpse are present on tracks like 'Abandoned By The Sun', and some of the brooding, atonal riffing of 'Covenant'-era Morbid Angel can be found throughout. But anything that makes this album seem less savage and dogmatic seems to be a ridiculous statement, because while there are bands that are faster, noisier, and more guttural than Dismal Divinity, few carry the same aura of total devastation and extreme hatred that these guys do.

Nothing more needs to be said. Any self-respecting fan of brutal death metal needs to pick this album up immediately. If you're looking for 'Methods Of Execution II', look no further: Dismal Divinity is here to sate the bloodlust of even the most jaded death metaller. If Dismal Divinity was a military entity, it'd be a Viking berserker. One of the best brutal death debuts I've had the privilege to hear in years.