With all that goes on without the punishing realms of all that death metal encompasses, it’s no stretch of the imagination to wonder what happens when someone puts together a performance that not just defies expectations but transforms our understanding of what it means to perform any certain sound. The more technical and progressive reaches of the genre are always begging for a new name to come along and deliver some grand excellence the likes of which we rarely ever receive, but, as you might imagine, such creations are incredibly few and far between. When Fleshvessel came out with its debut a few years ago, it was clear that we had received a new name that was not afraid to be different or try things not many might pair with death metal. Time could only tell what would happen next. If “Bile of Man Reborn” was to see Fleshvessel walk, then it is with “Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed” that we see the band at a full-on sprint without so much as breaking a single sweat.

There have been plenty of times when I’ve described a band’s journey from one album to the next as an “evolution” in their sound, but extremely few creations take it as far and as literal as what Fleshvessel has accomplished with this brand new effort that boasts a 55-minute runtime across seven tracks. And let me tell you – these are an absolutely wild 55 minutes! Incredibly few bands have been able to achieve any sort of ascension through the world of progressive death metal like what Fleshvessel has put on display here with even me dubbing the record as simply progressive minimizing the sheer scope of the creation quite a bit. No so much as any minute throughout “Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed” sounds anything like all that surrounds it as Fleshvessel has not just brought to the table a powerful creation that dares to become its own multi-dimensional beast that none of us will ever truly put a finger on, but it is ever given aspect of the record that compels you to explore its mind-warping depths. Nothing is left to chance but everything is in the unknowable hands of chaos as Fleshvessel is more than comfortable at not just leaving us in the dark as to what comes next, but their visages for existence itself is of the harrowing degree that leaves one horrified for the future but darkly curious to see it all unfold. From its dancing flutes to soaring vocals to its darkly lit halls to the burning skies that rip open at the very pluck of the strings to literally every given aspect of this masterclass of insanity, “Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed” utterly demands to be hailed a viciously bold effort that more than deliver at every turn.

It has been a very long time since I’ve come upon a work that’s as daring and as complete as what we have here, and I do believe it will be a while again before I’m met with another. Fleshvessel didn’t need to prove anything given its debut from just a few years ago, but it truly seems to be the case that “good enough” is simply not in the band’s vocabulary. What we’re given with the howling reaches of “Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed” stands as an excursion that more than earns to be called one of the most engaging, challenging, and unyielding efforts that 2023 will undoubtedly release even unto its final moments. Fleshvessel has done nothing but succeed magnificently at every possible turn in the crafting for this record to the point that I now shudder at the very prospect of whatever it is that comes next. But whatever may come, this album has cast a shadow whose influence and monolithic power cannot be underestimated in the slightest.

“Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed” releases on July 28th via I, Voidhanger Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Fleshvessel on Facebook here.