Full-Album listen: Scáth Na Déithe - Pledge Nothing But Flesh
jtlyk i’m just an AP student—I use these reviews as study material!!
Pledge Nothing But Flesh is a five track album released on March 28th, 2017, that delivers a unique layered vocal mix, landing the genre betwixt Black Doom and Death Doom. The brooding album is not a swell blend of the supergiants—it merely happens to incorporate specific qualities at certain times. Pairing depressive themes and skilled musical prowess, Scáth Na Déithe becomes a versatile, unpredictable band.
The intro is very quiet, and has minimal bleed into the first song, Bloodless, as it features a biting draft towards the end. Definitely a winter album.
Upon Bloodless’s arrival, one could place this song in their “Black-Doom” folder, but the vocals and pacing of the song are geared towards Death-Doom. The riffs are foreboding and heavy as one expects from a Doom album. A nice section I’d like to include starts at 7:23, ending at 7:48. The drumming is the main feature as they enter the falling action of the piece. (No idea about the actual technique they’re using, but think of Chop Suey!’s intro, just crunchier and evil.) Bloodless concludes with a haunting lead riff that reverberates across the murky path Scáth Na Déithe creates.
This Unrecognized Disease, while maintaining the punchiness of Bloodless, has a similar start as Bloodless.(bro the next 6 paragraphs just disappeared out of nowhere when I went in to edit. I may come back to this song to re-write it, but at the time of posting I refuse to do that. FML.)
Fáilte Na Marbh opens with an acoustic guitar, adding to the intense contrast PNBF isn’t hesitant to incorporate. At a length of 1:50, Fáilte Na Marbh is the shortest song on PNBF as a soft interlude.
The Shackled Mind is true to its word, and launches a grand wall of noise that immediately flows into a fine melodic riff. There’s endless cacophonous noise—an allusion to War-Metal with the impressively powerful drumming (awesome drummer.) The Shackled Mind (0:00-3:30) is dangerous, actively putting on a chase that the drummer’s fervor instigates. Following a quieter interval, 4:41’s bass tone is blissful—far different from TSM’s nature. Furthering the contrast that drives PNBF, an entirely new scale is used, as the beginning of TSM sounds brighter in comparison. The bass tone on this album is akin to wading around in plush mud, but changes at the very end of the song where it’s clearer and bright.
The final track of Pledge Nothing But Flesh, Search Unending, greets the listener with a swelling bass tone and builds anticipation. Search Unending is a majority Black Metal sound on PNBF, harboring a calmer main riff than the previous songs. Nice cowbell—whatever that is. The last 2:20 minutes of the song closes with the recurring acoustic guitar. Solemn, accompanied by ambient footsteps and the freezing wind from the intro.
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