When it comes to Italian Brutal Technical Death Metal heavyweights Hideous Divinity, you tend to know what you’re getting yourself into prior to sitting down to give a listen or two.

And that isn’t a bad thing.

Unextinct (Century Media Records) is a fledgling beast rife with intricate stringwork and demanding drums. It’s Hideous Divinity’s fifth full-length, and also comes five years from the last (which is the longest period between records for the group). 

This long-player in particular sees the musicians playing around with tempos while retaining the deafening heaviness juxtaposed by harmonized guitar soloing (“Leben Ohne Fever”). 

Furthermore, unwavering and sadistic percussion pair quite nicely with a disrupt-the-Earth’s-axis feel (“Against The Sovereignty Of Mankind”).

Aside from the ubiquitous tropes found within this style of metal, Unextinct makes sure to also throw a bone to the fanatics of atmospherics and subconscious imagery.

“Der Verlorene Sohn” is an interlude which evokes pictures of cosmic wonderlands. “Mysterium Tremendum” boasts a quite daunting environment. And “Dust Settles On Humanity” adds to the excitement with a muffled spoken-word section. 

Hideous Divinity aren’t above headbangy sections jammed in between thunderous spurts. And with “Atto Quarto The Horror Paradox”, the drum bursts sputter; the guitar soloing is refined and explorative; and beastly grunts and screams envelope all within range of its ferocity.

Unextinct may require multiple listens, but that’s usually an indicator of complexity and thoughtfulness.

“With each track acting as a eulogy, [the record] invites listeners to embrace the courage to confront the unnamable, unthinkable forces that dictate our ephemeral existence,” proclaims the accompanying promo. 

In doing so, the four-piece ensures that the output is technical both musically and stylistically, able to generate thoughts, feelings and discoveries merely through their strokes of the guitar and the slams of the drum. 

Buy the album here:
https://hideousdivinity.lnk.to/Unextinct
https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/unextinct-24-bit-hd-audio 

8 / 10
MATT COOK