The Canadian extreme metal scene have some of the biggest, most influential artists coming out of Canada in quite sometime. Anywhere from Tomb Mold, Mitochondrion, Ex Deo, Revenge, Neuraxis, Martyr and Augury to name a few all have paid their respects and continuously making every progress count to make the country loud and proud. Today, Outre-Tombe are a old school death metal band that were formed in 2010 residing in Quebec City which seemingly enough I have been hearing lots about this band in particular and after diving into the band’s catalog, this is exactly what I love about death metal and the old school movement. Abysse Mortifère is the latest offering by these Canadian based outfitters and is the follow-up to 2018’s Necrovortex in which that album showcased the band to create incredibly crafted and well designed albums they’ve done to date.
Musically, Outre-Tombe’s style, sound and formula is essentially taking the stylistic arrangements of traditional death metal from the early to mid 90’s ranging from Obituary, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Deicide, Pestilence, Atheist and many more as they rightfully earned themselves and established quality releases during their career. For only having three albums, this is by far the band’s best and most diverse sounding albums they’ve done to date. They not only captured such brilliancy and making the music as chaotic and destructive, but to paying homages to the band’s biggest influences from Grave, Nilhilist, Carnage and Asphyx to name a few, these French Canadians twist and turned their own gutsfucking signature soundscapes that sound so much more guttural, energetic and balls to the wall heavier as I hear the album’s production and songwriting here have improved significantly prior to past releases.
Everything from the vocals, bass, guitars, drums and ancient like atmospheric passages, songs like Exsangue, Tombeau De Glace and Cenobytes features the most primitive depths in not only how mephitic and unapologetically heavy these songs come to life, but taking every instrument and counterparts to make the songs feel morbid and macerated just makes you want to appreciate the nature and beauty of these talented musicians surely know how to recreate a story so unspeakable and audio-torture like sequences bringing that Autopsy, Bolt Thrower and Dismember and almost Entombed inspired late 80’s sound is what Outre-Tombe not only wanted to create a album sounding how early death metal was during the beginning stages and time, but for a band like Outre-Tombe, they captured and perfected the sound and progression making this album truly a fascinating experience. Abysse Mortifère is everything you want in a death metal album and if you’re looking for a old school death metal release with a modern day production, Outre-Tombe is that band for you.
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Review by Jake Butler
