Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Penitenziagite
Label: On Parole Productions
Release: year_month
Length: 34:00
Rating: 4.5/5
It’s been a long road for Kranj death metal crew Penitenziagite, a name that had us tripping over our tongues the first time we met them. The band, which borrowed its name from Eco’s classic The Name of the Rose, set out a good ten years ago and made itself noticed with a first demo in 2005. A few years later, on its excellent successor The New Evolution, Penitenziagite shook off their black metal roots and turned into a pure-blooded death metal band, and then the studio activity dried up. Right up until this year, when they finally mark the round anniversary with their full-length studio debut Humanity Galore.
It’s clear the band has been itching for a debut album for ages the moment the sonic assault of Origin of Desolation kicks in, flattening you with the force of an atomic blast shockwave. The oriental flavor at the start of the opener briefly recalls the more death metal moments of the likes of Behemoth or Melechesh, but Penitenziagite quickly explode into death metal in the true sense of the word, the kind that’s close to bands like Immolation, Monstrosity or Vomitory. And honestly, Penitenziagite don’t fall short of those giants in any way. Sure, Humanity Galore is no death metal (r)evolution, but it doesn’t need to be, because it’s simply an outstanding helping of earth-shaking death metal the likes of which we haven’t heard at home in a long time. The album is a shining example of dynamic, punchy and great-sounding death metal, marked by an incredible variety of material. That variety lives mostly in the effective, diverse riffs that never repeat themselves and stamp every track with the black soul of human morbidity. What’s interesting is that there are practically no (longer) guitar solos on the album, and you don’t miss them at all, because the guitar duo of Anže Demšar and Žan Kavčič fill the whole thing with all-encompassing, crazed riffs that squeal blasphemously one moment, cut brutally the next, offer a melody or two the third time around (the »epic as fuck« bridge in Cleansing) and, fourth, stomp along with a massive groove that tramples like the creatures in King’s The Mist. Matic’s bass provides a solid foundation here; it isn’t exactly easy to hear, but it still fills out the darkness of Humanity Galore nicely and doesn’t let any sunshine in. And then there’s Gašper’s drumming, which comes down on you like a Kaiju from Pacific Rim and tears you apart in every direction. He’s got it all covered – fast kick drums, stomping on the snare, a well-thought-out use of cymbals and a hell of a lot of variety. If the drums sounded cardboardy on the EP, the story is completely different on Human Galore, because now they have the power of a tornado. »Last but not least«, wrapping the whole thing up in death metal perfection is Demšar’s phenomenal vocal, which easily matches the power of Ross Dolan (Immolation) or Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal). Anže is brutal, yet clear and intelligible.
On Humanity Galore, Penitenziagite took a similar path to Dickless Tracy on Paroxysm of Disgust, because, just like them, they re-recorded some old material. So in a newer, fresher and thus even punchier form, three wreckers from The New Evolution demo show up on Humanity Galore – Path Lain In Shadows, Lords Long Forgotten and Circle of Life – blending perfectly with the newer material and forming a coherent, blasphemous monster that doesn’t let go of its grip until the very last moments of Circle of Life, when it squeezes the last drop of life out of you. And if you thought Humanity Galore runs out of steam toward the end, it’s quite the opposite. Circle of Life erupts with the fury of total war and seals the fact that Humanity Galore is an album oozing with tracks that leave a lasting impression. And the fact is that Humanity Galore is probably the best homegrown death metal record since the legendary Through Endless Torment by Šoštanj’s Supremacy! Humanity Galore is the dragon that will gnaw at the very essence of humanity, or as Salvatore put it: »Penitenziagite! Watch out for the draco who cometh in futurum to gnaw your anima!« Time to repent!
Lineup
Anže Demšar – vocals, guitar
Žan Kavčič – guitar
Gašper Čebulj – drums
Matic Diba – bass
Production
Jan Švigelj and Žiga Zmazek
Tracklist
1. Origin of Desolation
2. Fire Makes Way
3. Cleansing
4. Dictation
5. Path Lain In Shadows
6. Humanity Galore
7. Lords Long Forgotten
8. Circle of Life
