The depths of Bandcamp are so incredibly fruitful that there will always be a great number of high-quality releases that will always fly right over my head for one reason or another. While it’s Tomb Mold that I feel I regret the most that I still haven’t investigated, Ulthar is definitely one of the more well-known choices that I haven’t looked into. Today was the first time I even saw the cover art for their latest effort, and I couldn’t help myself anymore for which I’m very grateful because this band fucking slays in every possible way. As if you needed me to tell you.

Death metal is a style that’s been all but known to be extreme, that much is obvious. It’s not uncommon anymore, however, for bands to try and make the style even crazier whether it comes in the form of mild psychedelia somehow incorporated into the madness or the band in question doing their best to make the material even more bloodthirsty. In the case of “Providence”, it’s all pretty straight forward here but there are extra flavors that Ulthar expertly peppers throughout to give so much personality and pizazz to their already vicious sound to the point where I can’t quite pinpoint what exactly they’re doing to make this sound much less how they make it work as well as they have. It’s the very definition of death metal that goes right for the throat as each track throughout this murderous record does everything in its power to beat the listener down to a truly pathetic state whether Ulthar prefers to do that through corrosive riffage, ungodly power that’s exuding out of every note, haunting visages of Clive Barker-like hellscapes, or some combination of that and so much more. There’s a true hypnotic element to this creation as well. That’s something that a lot of death metal lacks where you’re constantly being pulled into the miasmic chaos out of a true desire to see where the material in question is going because of how marvelous it is just to witness its excellence, and that is precisely “Providence” to a tee.

Of all the death metal records in recent times that I’ve missed, I’m very glad to say that I won’t be missing out on “Providence” and all of its glory. Ulthar has long been a name in the underground that I know I’ve needed to check out but the sheer volume of releases we’re always treated to makes me forget. A poor excuse nonetheless, for there is no real reason I missed out on something this grand for so long and I cannot help but encourage anyone who’s putting off listening to this to stop doing exactly that. It’s a listen you likely won’t soon forget, and is definitely making an impact in the annals of death metal this year when all is said and done.

LISTEN to “Providence” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Ulthar on Facebook here.