San Francisco’s Vastum have been an interesting act to follow since they hit the scene in 2011. Employing an especially moist, slimy cavern-core sound owing much to Incantation, Autopsy, and Funebrarum, their savage attack was hard to resist on ace offerings like Patricidal Lust and Hole Below. With current and former members of Hammers of Misfortune, Acephalix, and Ulthar involved, they crafted some unsettling, evil-sounding shit and their writing felt more interesting than the average death output. 2019s Orificial Purge felt like a comedown in quality and inventiveness, though it was still an enjoyable platter of mostly mid-paced death. Now comes Inward to Gethsemane and with it, a hope for a rebound back to the vile magic of their earlier days. Sadly, though the Vastum sound still has force and impact, Inward to Gethsemane is not the best vehicle to demonstrate what the band is capable of.
Things begin well with “In Bed With Death,” which offers a good glimpse into the Vastum aesthetic in action. It feels unhinged, raw, and insane, with a menacing blackened edge undergirding the ferocious death metal foundation. The vocal trade-offs between Leila Abdul-Rauf (Cardinal Wyrm, ex-Hammers of Misfortune) and Daniel Butler (Acephalix) are as effective as ever and the slithering, unnatural riffs from Leila and Shelby Lermo (Ulthar) are effective and abrasive. It’s a pummeling, vicious trip with much to appreciate, though it runs a tad overlong at 5:36. “Priapic Chasms” also runs long at 6:30 while offering significantly less energy and insanity. It feels rather lackluster over much of its runtime and I check out mentally by the 3 or 4-minute mark every time despite my best efforts.
There are a few moments that offer some thrills, like “Stillborn Eternity” which has a strong Disma/Incantation vibe and features eerie ritualistic chanting and haunting clean vocals in the background courtesy of Leila Abdul-Rauf. The band’s used this trick before and it’s always effective. Sadly, this song suffers bloat as well, crossing the 6-minute mark. “Indwelling Archon” rivals the opener for best moments with a rabid forward momentum and exuberance missing in too much of the album’s material. It’s like a classic Morbid Angel tune with an extra layer of scuzz gravy and that’s a winning recipe. Closer “Corpus Fractum” ends things on a very uninspiring note with 8 minutes of plodding and fairly uninteresting fare that smacks of retread Behemoth. At a skinny 38 minutes, there just isn’t a lot of choice meat on Inward to Gethsemane. It sounds great and has all the features of a good death album, but the material feels underwhelming more often than not.
There’s a wealth of talent involved here, which makes the shortcomings all the more puzzling. Leila Abdul-Rauf is a gifted vocalist and guitarist and I loved her work with Hammers of Misfortune as well as her contributions to the early Vastum output. Her shrill, blackened shrieks are intense and unnerving and she can craft a mean riff. She and Shelby Lermo deliver some biting, vicious leads at times. but their playing can become rote and uninteresting as well, and that happens too much over the album’s runtime. Daniel Butler’s beastly death vocals are effective and when teamed with Leila’s shrieks, good things can and do happen. In fact, it’s their dueling vocals that end up providing much of the entertainment value here. The drumming by Chad Gaily (Necrot, Stormkeep) is also worth noting. It’s powerful, and precise and provides a thunderous backbone to the music. Ultimately, the end product winds up less than the sum of its talented parts.
I’m a fan of what Vastum do and clearly the demographic for their style of hellish death, but Inward to Gethsemane falls flat for me, continuing the downward trajectory started on Orificial Purge. The combination of less lively writing and regular bloat conspire to undermine my enjoyment of the material. I’ll salvage the cream of the cesspool for a playlist and move on. Nonetheless, I’m still hoping for better days for these fiends. They’re just too talented not to rebound eventually.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Websites: vastum.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/vastumofficial
Releases Worldwide: November 10th, 2023
