The mysteries of old school death metal are as arcane and unknowable as the most opaque of graduate school philosophy textbooks. The genre ingredients are so rudimentary, yet they can be bent, twisted, and deformed into a seemingly endless tide of horrific abominations. Back in 2020 Michigan’s The Glorious Dead tested their formulas fatal to the flesh on debut Into Lifeless Shrines, taking the basic OSDM blueprint and sprinkling in light prog and blackened elements. It was a burly, confrontation beast and some charmingly gruesome tunes resulted. It had issues though, including bloat and inconsistency. Two years and change later, the Glory Boys are back with sophomore platter Cemetery Paths. Has time tempered their approach and honed the edge of their brutal creativity? Let us adjourn to the burial area.
The overall sound remains much the same, though the songs are shorter and less burdened by saggy middles. You still get 100% OSDM with extra beef and sweetmeats though. “Horizons of Ash” hits with a Vader-like hammer and its thrashing, head-bashing intensity is good fun and an album high point. “Gag on Viscera” killdozes your family plot without mercy and the stomping, throat-squeezing level of heaviness is entirely enjoyable. They shake things up with a death-doom angle on “Daylight Graves” which reeks of early days Novembers Doom. It’s respectable and has a gritty, sinister mood. They swing into Swedeath territory on the d-beaty “Dragging the Dead” while also letting a bit of their prog flag show with various tempos and moods being exploited. The Swedeath vibe splashes over to “Living Rot” as well where some slightly blackened Dismember-esque riffs crop up.
Things are kept fairly blasty and thrashy over the course of Cemetery Paths and by the halfway point, things do start to bleed together into a writhing, pulpy mass. Selections like “Malefic Sepsis” (I’ve had that) and “Corpse of the King” feel a little underwhelming with the latter sounding too Amon Amarth-y for its own good. As the album winds down we get the 6-plus minute title track which attempts a brand of eerie, horror soundtrack death-doom, but it comes off somewhat cartoonish rather than ominous and threatening. It jumps from tempo to tempo energetically but it never gels or comes together, and the repeated samples of crows cawing are more annoying than mood-setting. Cemetery Paths concludes with a melancholic outre and though it isn’t bad, it adds to the sense that Cemetery Paths is an album in search of an identity and direction. Though the average song lengths are down from last time, the album still ends up feeling longer than its 49 minutes. I will give a nod to the production, which is big, boisterous, and pummeling. The guitar tone is massive and the mix feels just about right.1
T.J. Humlinski and former Metal Maniacs staffer Marty Rytkonen deliver a goodly collection of ass-busting riffs and gnarly, twisting harmonies. They rope in blackened influences without overdoing it, and their forays into doom territory are generally solid. I don’t even mind the occasional proggy inclinations that pop up along the way. As they rip ride through the material I hear references to Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse along with the legends of Swedeath, and the boys have an ear for a face-melting lead. T.J. is a solid death vocalist who can sound appropriately brutal and inhuman when needed. His delivery can however wander into Cartoonville, making heavy moments feel less impactful. The musicianship is not the issue here, however. The problem is that too much of the album bounces off and doesn’t stick with me after it ends due to a paucity of hooks. I wouldn’t tell someone to turn it off, but chunks of it lack staying power and memorability. Consistency is still something lacking on this particular pathway to the Charnel House.
While far from bad, Cemetery Paths falls into that gaping maw of albums that I don’t feel a need to return to. There’s so much death metal seeping out of the moist earth these days and listening time is so finite and precious. The Glorious Dead’s recipe here is just too boilerplate to grab me beyond a few poachable primal cuts. There are definitely worse ways to spend 49 minutes though. Glory to those that are dead.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Bindrune Recordings
Websites: wearethegloriousdead.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/thegloriousdeadtc
Releases Worldwide: July 28th, 2023
