VASAELETH – CRYPT BORN & TETHERED TO RUIN LP (20 Buck Spin)

Vasaeleth’s debut full-length was originally released on CD by Profound Lore in 2010, with Blood Harvest handling the initial vinyl edition. Late last year, 20 Buck Spin re-issued the album on black wax and I decided three years belatedly that this record was too good to pass up on. I’d bought it already on CD, you see, but had reservations about the practically of spending an additional €16 on the analogue version of an album that’s only 30 minutes long…

At the end of the day, this comes down to a quality versus quantity issue, with the quality winning out hands down. Vasaeleth churns out amazing organic, lo-fi, murky, underground Death Metal that’s sort of indecipherable, intangible and tailor-made for fans of Antediluvian, Grave Upheaval and the likes. To be fair, ‘Crypt Born & Tethered To Ruin’ is a fantastic masterpiece of extremity and is therefore priceless.

One of those albums where the lyrics are included but it’s almost impossible to read along because the vocals are so deep and subterranean… My advice? Buy this and ignore the new 18-minute, 12” EP ‘All Uproarious Darkness’, which retails (here in Europe at least) at the same price as a full-length LP. That’s a rip-off in any language, no matter how great Vasaeleth are…

Evilometer: 666/666