Artist: Miscreance
Country: Italy
Label: Season Of Mist
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2023
Although I came across the debut of this Italian Miscreance last summer, I did not get around to giving it a few words at the time. However, I did tip it off to some acquaintances who, like me, are (also) keen on Death’s later work. It happens to be the case that when we talk about Death, 9 times out of 10 it is true that new(er) bands take their inspiration from the first few albums, with ‘Screams Bloody Gore’ and ‘Leprosy’ being the most obvious choices. But not for Miscreance, they mainly aim for ‘Symbolic’ and especially ‘Sound Of Perseverance’.
But while the comparisons to Death are woven throughout this album, it is perhaps also a little too easy to linger on this alone. After all, it’s not simple copycat work, but more a clearly audible deeply felt love for technically-inclined, progressive Death Metal. The dizzying dynamics provided by the many tempo changes, countless guitar leads and jazzy structures give ‘Convergence’ it’s refreshing character. Incidentally, the band does this without losing any of its bite, although we are regularly treated to bits of (semi) acoustics and solid soloing, ‘Convergence’ is definitely a thoroughly Death Metal album.
Fans of Pestilence, Cynic and especially Atheist will be left licking their fingers at this. Indeed, not only is it at once both musically refreshing and a feast of recognition, singer and drummer Andrea Feltrin (going full Browning-style) has clearly done his best to stay close to the whole musical concept vocally as well. A comparison with Martin van Drunen (Pestilence among others) is definitely up for grabs here. Although I am not exactly a fan of Van Drunen’s vocal antics, this vocal style suits Miscreance just fine and does not bother me at all.
It is good to see that even Schuldiner’s later work is continuing to find fertile ground. The more complex compositions, heavily laced with Heavy Metal and Jazz, definitely leave me wanting more. Miscreance therefore shows right from the start with this debut album that they belong in the top of this niche within the Death Metal genre. Indeed, as far as I am concerned, with ‘Convergence’ the band has delivered an album that a band like Horrendous can only dream of. So it’s no surprise that Season Of Mist were the first to sign the band and re-release the album, in case you missed it initially, this is a good opportunity to still pick it up.
