That's true, I read a couple of very positive opinions on the debut stuff coming from this duo, but I have to admit for a start: the absolutely fantastic front-cover was the thing that caught my attention immediately. The title was waiting on my shopping list and I bought it few weeks ago eventually. The genre for Fossilization is quite extraordinary: they come from Brazil and I face with a mixture of death and doom. I'm rather not accustomed to such a style from this country, as death and thrashing madness reign definitely in my collection. My copy has been released by Everlasting Spew Records in clocking time of 25 minutes. And you know what? These five tracks pound and devastate straightaway.
The music is simple and sincere to the bone, it's been played without any innovations and complexity, being deeply rooted in Incantation dimensions and more modern offers from Finnish death/doom scene. What's more, I can find an interesting touch of My Dying Bride (the era of their second album mainly) influence in closing track, probably with most melodic guitar parts disrupted by short blasting drum outbursts. For sure the work of three recording studios helped to get a proper sound – there is no accident, it's massive, obscure, full of no-light emanations. And sepulchral – this adjective depicts the music and lyrics matter in a perfect way. The concept is clear: only one song has got fast demolishing pace on the beginning, the rest starts off a slower manner, building a tension of gastness before the senses fossilization. Musicians knowingly and successfully change the tempo, serve addictive melodies (especially in „Caronte” and mentioned „A Deplorable Epoch”) and deep growls with incidental use of blackish-like screams in „Blight Cathedral”. It doesn't fatigue but pulls into something eerie, ominous and long forgotten. And there's no chance to turn back, as the tombstone is closed...
Even if I mentioned about simplicity, I needed over a dozen meetings to appreciate this effort and fully grasp its richness. All here fits: from front-cover to music and lyrics, from ravaging speeds ripping my head off to monumental and crushing heaviness that compresses my organs. Really, I cannot say a bad word. And I do hope this Ep will not turn out to be the only title in their discography.
85/100
-Tlacaxipehualiztli
(written in October, 2021)
