It can be a lot easier to bite off more than you can chew than one might expect. To try and set yourself apart from the competition can unintentionally lead to your downfall as you find yourself reaching beyond your capabilities and failing to deliver many of the flavors that you sought to add to the swirling cauldron that inevitably bubbled and spilled over because you weren’t aware how potent the involved ingredients were. That doesn’t stop many from trying with some succeeding, yet acts like Deathfiend are few and far between. Within the band’s second effort, we see how it’s all truly done in simply overwhelming form.

No longer is it a true oddity to see a band come around and dare to combine the tendencies of many different styles into one writhing creation that dares to tap into the power from many different sides to bring about an effort that can become so much more should it simply be crafted by hands that know precisely what kind of volatility they’re dealing with. To gaze upon practically every given track that Deathfiend delivers within “Dark Rising” is to realize that this quartet is more than capable and delivers sinister glory at virtually every given turn without compromise nor do they ever miss an opportunity to deliver hellfire and madness on a terrifying scale. A clear love letter to metal of the old school without ever once falling firmly into a single style to make for a truly writhing and dense creation, “Dark Rising” offers much to every listener as the act demonstrates a fascinating level of understanding of its vision on what’s only its second EP. A thriving bastion of that old school which many people have come to worship with nothing short of real aptitude and capacity as the driving force to make this work something to be admired, Deathfriend makes its known over and over again throughout this creation precisely why they’re at a level seperate from much of the others in the vast underground.

Unyielding in its ventures and uncompromising when it comes to its intense artistic vision, what we’re given here cannot be denied for what it does manage to bring to the table. Deathfiend seizes every given opportunity to throw down an impressive display of understanding of their craft to not just make for an engaging creation, but one that keeps you crawling back time and time again. Where many seek to tap into a special kind of sinsiter magic, “Dark Rising” channels such sorcery brilliantly to make for an experience only an act of the true underground can deliver.

LISTEN to “Dark Rising” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Deathfiend on Facebook here.