Spring of Recovery

One of the most unique extreme bands from Finland, i.e. Adramelech. However, the story of their - far too modest - discography should begin a bit out of sequence, because with the ep from 1992 entitled "Spring Of Recovery" - as the first one to reveal this "uniqueness". Earlier, on the demos "Human Extermination" and "Grip Of Darkness", Jarkko Rantanen's group was just forming their line-up (even Jarkko managed to jump from the role of guitarist/vocalist to drummer [and conversely] - as time will show, not for the last time), took on an original style and did everything to prevent their music from falling into unreadable noise (after all, the demo from 1991 sounds worse by today's standards of phone recording). A qualitative leap from "Human..." and "Grip..." was successful on "Spring..." so this ep was immediately released on vinyl by Adipocere Records.

The greatness of "Spring Of Recovery" is really short, because the actual material itself is not the longest (just over 9 minutes). Apart from the intro "Dethroned" (as sick as the cover), this ep has only two songs. But what a two songs! Heavy, stuffy, with a Demilich-like atmosphere (from the side of "frog's" growl), a decent dose of filth (a bit in Swedish style), a bit intricate ideas (for such a raw material, look how many motives appear in "Mortal God"!), efficiently drumming and climatic variations (especially in "Revived" due to occasional keyboards or acoustics in the ending - a shiver guaranteed). The best here is that already at such an early stage, the Finns had their own idea of ​​playing extreme music, even if later it was - quite unfairly - referred to as "Spring..." as the younger brother of Demigod. The whole ep is listened to with the same commitment as their later, more appropriate materials. Actually, the only thing that leaves you unsatisfied is the fact that...they didn't record any more songs on this album (and they had them)!

"Spring Of Recovery" is therefore a very promising, though extremely modest, announcement of the direction in which Jarkko Rantanen's group will evolve. Well, this short material perfectly shows what an appetizer should look like before the "main course".

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2022/05/adramelech-spring-of-recovery-1992.html

Adramelech’s "Spring of Recovery" seven-inch came out a few months after the "Grip of Darkness" demo. The band made incremental improvements from that demo. This recording is a solid Finnish death metal release that sounds like a cross between Demigod and Demilich. For context, this seven-inch was released a few months after the pivotal Demilich demo ("...Somewhere Inside the Bowels of Endlessness...") and a couple of months before Demigod’s debut album. The cover art alone gives a recognisable 'Finndeath' vibe, it being the same person who did artwork for Funebre and (subsequently) Demilich. The artist, Turkka Rantanen, also happens to be the brother of Adramelech main-man Jarkko Rantanen.

On this particular recording, Adramelech sounded closer to Demilich than ever (before or since). This seven-inch is probably the nearest thing to Demilich that wasn’t released by Demilich. It isn’t as sinuous as that band, but Adramelech maintained a steady medium-fast tempo with some moderately technical aspects. The production is bassy and murky, but not particularly powerful. The vocals also have a similar nonchalant, gurgled feel to Demilich. I presume the vocalist here used a similar technique or effect, although these vocals are not quite as otherworldly as they were on "...Somewhere Inside the Bowels of Endlessness...".

There are only two (proper) tracks here, so there isn’t much music to appraise. The first song ("Mortal God") is older and had already appeared on the demo. This one is mostly instrumental, with the vocals not arriving until after the half-way mark. The best musical ideas appear in the instrumental section, and the latter half of the song is more reliant on blasting than anything else. It isn’t particularly interesting. The second song, "Revived", is much better and feels more complete. The technical parts and mid-paced riffs are better integrated into the vocal patterns, the tempo changes more often, and the song ends with a dark-sounding acoustic strum.

Adramelech couldn’t compete with the best of Finnish death metal here. Demilich and Demigod were outshining them. “Spring of Recovery” doesn’t feel like a fully realised vision. It sounds like the band were developing into something more interesting and fearsome. Unfortunately Adramelech would not release anything else for a couple of years. They would disappear until the end of 1994, when they would record “The Fall” EP (their finest moment). That is the record to check out if you want to listen to this band.

In the old days, Adramelech were, together with Demigod, Convulse etc. leaders of the now long dead Finnish death metal scene, my personal favourite scene for DM. They also went on to have significant commercial success with later albums, and are pretty well known in the modern mainstream.

I've haven't heard the demo before this release, but read in an interview from an old zine that the band themselves consider it a "mistake" due to its poor quality and musicianship. According to the band this 7" is faster and more technical and professional, and Adramelech’s last offering in this style, which is a shame because later albums were, though still good, more modern-sounding.

Musically, this album has the typical early 90s Finnish DM sound, cold, raw and putrid, not as cold and dry as Norwegian DM, but definitely darker than the Swedish sound, which is similar yet different. The bands focuses on guitar work, in this case a combination of tremolo picked riffs, chromatic melodies and doomy sections used to great effect. The drums can be annoying at times, mainly because of the poor production that gives it an "oppresive" feeling. The vocals are of course low, hoarse, haunting semi-guttural whispers/spoken word not unlike Convulse, an integral part of the Finnish sound.

Spring of Recovery is one of the many classic releases hailing from Finland and early Adipocere, and arguably Adramelech's magnum opus. The production could've been a touch better, because sometimes you can't quite tell what's going on, but it isn’t a serious flaw. The definition of cult.