2010 marks as the year when the long-awaited debut of Texan horde Uncleansed finally sees the light of day and it indeed sounds like a pretty fruitful wait.

The band’s inception dates back to 2006 when 5 kindered souls got together to play some of the vilest and unwholesome death metal to have ever emerged from Texas and immediately began creating ideas to accomplish this goal. A line-up consisting of some upstanding names in underground death metal like the prolific Shawn Whitaker (Insidious Decrepancy, Viral Load, Grotesque Formation), Jim Case (Imprecation, Infernal Dominion) and Darrel White (Viral Load) would certainly raise the expectation level to dizzying heights and an immediate desire to get slapped by some abrasive tunes. But sadly their visions for an unnholy domination couldn’t be fulfilled instantly since this debut venture took 3 long years to be released. Better late then never though, I at least got to hear it and enjoyed the listening experience throughout.

What we have on ”Domination of the Faithful” is an enriching blend of old New York Death Metal styled death metal with modern brutality. Jim Case’ riffing clearly reminds me of his days with Infernal Dominion where he had created a pretty Incantation-esque, slow paced and diabolical style of death metal and Whitaker’s trademark guttural style of vocals hints of Insidious Decrepancy though there aren’t much of the groovy/slammish elements on Domination. It simply is a straight forward death metal bludgeoning which has the stern potentiality to captivate an afficianado of the afore-mentioned styles/bands from the beginning till the very end. Loads of high end tremolo picked/down picked riffs, subtle chord progressions and time signatures savored my hunger for some delicious death metal. Darrel’s drumming has been quite spot-on with proficient double kicks which go synonymous with the tempo changes. Handsome snare/cymbal patterns and diligently paced blasts add up to the percussive demenaour of Mr. White. The snare sound almost reminds me of the latest Insidious Decrepancy though the latter contained of programmed drum patterns.

Some of the best moments on the album are on tracks like ”The Summoning” which begins in a grand fashion, with a great opening rhythm and carries on the hammering suavely until the chaos ceases to a beautifully doom-laced riff, clearly reminding me of Incantation with Shawn’s incredible guttural rasps enhancing its notoriety. ”Sacrament of the Ancients” is another worth mention which begins with an echoing bass endured riff  and continues on to a beautifully carved melodic rhythm, paving way more for yet another rapturous tremolo riff and many more such time signatures to endure the listener further.

The title track’s intro starts off very much like Once Revered (Insidious Decrepancy – Extirpating Omniscient Certitude) and continues the blaze with proficient morbidity. Supported by a few bass sections, the riffs go on to converge to a short Krisiun-esque lead to finish off the song effectively. ”Molecular Immolation” starts with a catchy melodic riff which continues for till half a minute and descends into other time signatures sporadically. This track also reeks in a doom-laden section towards the middle and leaves me completely rejoiced. ”Conquest of the Heaven” begins its march with a stellar blast and more tremolos and then ceases to a mid pace with a drowsy bass riff which is quite short lived and the initial carnage ascends once again. A catchy chorus strikes an instant chord with my ears and then the mid-paced frenzy arrives again to climax the rituals of this fantastic musical spectacle.

As you must have already gathered from the description above, the musicians in Uncleansed have reveled in excellent team work which shows up for the brilliant progressions and structures of the songs. Whilst many of the bands fail to mix the ingredients together in vain of brutality and instrumental wankery, these Texan death metal cowboys show why their ranch is considered as one the most destructive in the whole underground death metal scene. This release doesn’t actually add a new dimension to death metal nor does it speak of innovation but it actually highlights some striking points of making enjoyable brutal death metal. Get this and see for yourself.

Review by Ankit Sinha. Uncleansed – Domination Of The Faithful has been cross posted here.