Richmond Virginia’s Appalling return with their second full length album Inverted Realm out on Redefining darkness records. I must admit I was not familiar with this group until reading the band’s bio in which Angel Corpse was mentioned as an influence. Appalling play quite a catchy form of blackened death thrash that reminds me of groups like: Absu, Aura Noir, and to an extent older Summon. Inverted Realm kicks off with “Hot Coals for Branding” which really kicks into high gear right off the bat. Blast beats galore! Vocalist BM’s voice has an outstanding cadence where it doesn’t sound like he is gargling a complete vat of hot asphalt and actually puts cool accents on phrases. Total David Vincent Worship.
There is no doubt that these guys are metal as fuck. I find myself getting through this quickly as it’s a shorter album. Right around a half an hour of material. Most of the tracks on this are in the two and a half minute to five minute range. “Artefact and Vessel” is probably the most Morbid Angel sounding track on this. It has the mid-tempo feel of something off of Blessed Are the Sick with chugging riffs and a bit of a groove to the drum parts. “A Mutilator at Large” is definitely my favorite song on this and probably has the most black metallish tinge to it with a huge chorus part that is different from all of the other tracks.
I am looking forward to what Appalling does with future releases as I think they have a unique approach and for the most part this is highly enjoyable, catchy metal release. Redefining Darkness have been doing an awesome job the last few years finding very talented artists. I really hope these guys find a good booking agent and tour as I could see them going over very well in front of American and European audiences as they do have a pretty multifaceted sound. Inverted Realm is definitely going to wind up on my best of 2019 list and I would encourage all to check out this fantastic group.
