France’s Towering has been around since 2016, and after a few demos released their debut album, Obscuring Manifestation, in 2019, on Dolorem Records. Tom J. Silver -Guitars (lead), Vocals, Christnach – Guitars (rhythm), Morte – Drums all return for album #2, The Oblation of Man.
The band welcomes a new bassist, Arboria. The debut was a good display of a mish-mash of Morbid Angel-inspired death metal. Just as on the debut, the band writes long songs. This album has six songs in 46 minutes. Opening with the seven-and-a-half-minute “Asceticism”, there seems to be something a bit more sinister in the Towering Inferno.
The song opens with a brooding dissonance, which sounds exactly like something I would hear on an Ulcerate album. The instrumentation proceeds to get heavier and heavier until the blasting and growl erupt around the two-minute mark, but still no vocals. The 2.26 enters into the picture, the real start of the song, as the blast takes over, and this has a strong Ulcerate/Immolation feel to it, with those bending riffs. Vocals are not guttural, with more of an emphasis on a powerful, dry throaty gruff delivery. I am telling you, fans of Ulcerate, take notice of this band at once. Excellent deeper growls and the tempo changes from fast to slow, to mid-paced to atmospherics. The dissonant guitar riffing, over the fast blasts, is a non-linear approach, and there is much more depth to the band now. Really great opener.
“Shattering Individuality” opens with a dense guitar riff that feels like it was recorded in a cavern, way underground….like go all the way down to the depths of hell. The drums enter the picture slowly, then right into a blast with the bendy, oft-kilter guitar riffing. I feel like I am wading through fog, and I need to use my fog lights to see where I am going. The blasting is punishing, with the vocals berating us as if we have done something wrong. The double bass drums, during the mid-section moments, are devastating. Monster dissonance and blasting all over the place. Slower and mid-paced tempos are all woven within the blasting. You will never get bored with their tempo shifts. The atmosphere on this song, with the shouting vocals, the crazy guitar riffing, the sounds of the squealing dissonance, drums, and bass, all make for a very immersive experience. Listen to this one with headphones/AirPods, a creative use of sound.
“Embraced Atonement” is close to nine minutes and has a great otherworldly opening moment. The middle of the song showcases the rhythm section with the slower moments, the shouting vocals, and a little bit of a guttural growl. While the shouting type of vocal delivery is cool, I would have liked some deeper vocal tones throughout the album. I think it would bring out more diversity and not be so monotone. The shouting over a lot of the music becomes, to these ears, a bit much. The double bass sounds punishing on this song, and throughout the album, the double bass has an excellent sound to it.
The Oblation of Man, with its stark and depressing album cover, is perfectly suited for Towering’s newer type of sound. If you had played this album for me, without vocals, I really would have thought this was a new Ulcerate album. I mentioned the vocal stuff, and overall, the album is well mixed and well produced for this dissonant type of extreme metal.
This type of death metal is not easy on the ears. If you appreciate death metal that does not have a rather formulaic sound, and love bands such as Ulcerate, Immolation, Gorguts, etc., then Towering must be added to your list. This album surpasses their debut, and Alex – you keep killing it on your label, brother. Towering is an impressive death metal band.
