Album Review

Score 7.4
Written by Erik Thomas
Published on 3/3/2010
If you, like me, first heard Finland’s Convulse on their 1994 effort Reflections, the re-issue of their 1992 debut is going to come as a bit of a shock. If you are expecting the catchy, groovy upbeat death n roll that the band perfected and were revered for with Reflections, you had best brace yourself.

Back in 1992 Convulse was a pure old school death metal band, a band rooted in early, raw, Stockholm bands like Nihilist, Carnage, Grave, Nirvana 2002, Evocation, Gorement and country mates Disgrace. Evil, primal, rumbling, earthy and morbidly catchy, with a couple of B-movie spooky segments,  World Without God is as far from Reflections as you can get as it blasts and growls with a sloppy, primeval and for those familiar with Reflections, unrecognizable fury.

There aren’t any real classics on this album that elevate it to the levels of their Stockholm peers,  but it's on par with Relapse's recent Nirvana  2002 re-issue, and chock full of old school nastiness complete with deep organic growls and a re-mastered, analog sound that’s rough and ready by today’s standards, but there’s no triggered or vocal FX, just pure old school goodness. The likes of “Blasphemous Verses,” “False Religion,” “Infernal End” and “Powerstruggle of Belief” making for a stiflingly old school, if disposable listen.

Relapse was kind enough to tack on the band's 4 track, 1990, Resuscitation of Evilness demo, which is even more raw and gnarly, and two live tracks, Venom’s ''Countess Bathory'' and ''Incantation of Restoration',' further highlighting the label's excellent recent reissues.



dillthedevil's Avatar
dillthedevil | posted on 3/2010 | Reply
7.4 out of 10 is an averahe score? I'd have considered a 7.4 to be 'very good' at least! Surely, by all mathematical reasoning, 5 out of 10 is average, and anything above that is... well... above average! Semantical bandying notwithstanding, great review - I've always appreciated the gloomy, murky aesthetic of this album. Plus, I've got something of a penchant for underappreciated 90s death metal - anyone else here a fan of Resurrection's 'Embalmed Existence'?
erikt@metalreview's Avatar
erikt@metalreview | posted on 3/2010 | Reply
Im not sure Id call an album that had such a small distribution by a band that hardly anyone heard of till reflections, as truly influential, especially compared to releases by their peers. its a damn fine album though and a well deserved relic to revisit. plus sometimes the three scores I give it seem higher in my head, but dont average out as high.
explodingpool's Avatar
explodingpool | posted on 3/2010 | Reply
Why such an average score...? This is a brilliant album and hugely influential to DM.