Review by Sandre the Giant
The debut record from Finnish death metal/hardcore heavyweights Baron has been a long time coming. ‘Beneath the Blazing Abyss’ follows a number of EPs, and is looking to be a contender in the new wave of death metal that has massive hardcore and doom influence too. This isn’t your daddy’s deathcore. ‘Beneath the Blazing Abyss’ is out now through Transcending Obscurity.
Baron’s work is at once death metal, death/doom and hardcore, with all three elements shining through in devastating opener ‘Primordial Possession’. You have crushing slow motion riffs, big crunchy breakdowns and rampant death metal passages with everything combining to create something truly heavy. The insidiously catchy thud of ‘Incinerated by Evil’ is pure old school Finnish death metal, infused with a massive dose of modern stomp and a wailingly evil solo, but when Baron go for the apocalyptic power, they nail it. Just listen to the infernal summonings that open ‘At the Dawn of Damnation’ and you’ll see what I mean, squalling guitar drawing demons from the abyss into our world, and the destruction of our land soundtracked by crunchy Bolt Thrower riffs and rolling drums. This and ‘Bound to the Funeral Pyres’ are probably the strongest moments on a record full of them; paragons of death/doom that is much more burning fire and brimstone than weeping, rain soaked brutality. Surrounding two monoliths of darkness with scorching death metal ferocity should now be the blueprint.
‘Beneath the Blazing Abyss’ is another record that confirms that Transcending Obscurity is full of some of the best and brightest bands in modern extremity. They keep appearing, like hellacious creatures of the night, and Baron are no exception. This is a band that have somehow reached a pinnacle of quality on their debut that some bands fail to reach in decades of work. Channelling Amorphis and Deicide through Swallow the Sun and Hooded Menace, ‘Beneath the Blazing Abyss’ is rich and fulfilling, terrifying and yet utterly absorbing. Superb.
https://www.facebook.com/baronhki/
https://baronhki.bandcamp.com/track/bound-to-the-funeral-pyres
https://barondm.bandcamp.com/album/beneath-the-blazing-abyss
The Killchain 