Perversion is a death metal band hailing from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Pillars of the Enlightened is their debut full length album (they had an EP, The Origins of Horror, in 2008) which was originally self released in 2012, but has been picked up by the fine folks at Blast Head Records (already responsible for excellent Tombthroat, Scordatura, Ade, Nebulous releases in their young existence). It’s not a groundbreaking record, but it is enjoyable, pure death metal and proud of its influences, wearing them on their sleeve, notably classic ’90s Floridian Death metal and a heavy dose of Suffocation.

There is no way of telling where these guys hail from geographically as you might assume they are actually from the US based on their sound. There’s no middle eastern themes or lyrics or injections, just pure blasts, growls and grooves circa 1993. The production is sturdy and Flordian/Suffocation-y, and the vocals of Rhama and Mahoud are simple old school growls, not uber low and gurgly but plenty deep and powerful. Even the song titles seem to be culled from lost Suffocation song titles: “Aging the Unbirthed”, “Subconscious Mutation”, “Dementia of Devourment” and such.

After ’90s styled intro “Through the Void”, “Aging the Unbirthed” immediately notifies you of the band’s unabashed influences with rumbling presence and very familiar Effigy of the Forgotten type structures (mixing blasts and stout grooves) and percussion that remind of Suffocation through and through. That’s all you really need to know about this satisfying, compact little release. The rest of the 7 remaining songs follow the same formula rigidly with only couple of exceptions; The title track has a little melodic, echo-y solo, while “Subconscious Mutation” delivers a short Morbid Angel/Mithras style cosmic solo and closer “Dementia of Devourment” has a bit more of an odd thrash punk/vibe to it, to the point where I thought it might be some obscure cover track. But for the most part Perversion deliver solid, burly death metal like “Gates of the Multiverse” or “The Origins of Horror”, nothing more nothing less, but sometimes (more often than not) that’s all you need.

[Visit the band's website]

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