Prominentia is a band that grew slowly on me - from watching them on social media to taking up their song for a review previously. These boys from Lebanon dropped their debut album “Descendence”, and aiding to the fact that I loved their title track, here is the full album review which I discuss below.
The album opening prelude track “Crown” features acoustic guitar with a uplifting and upbeat vibe to itself, bleeding directly into the first track “Rose Amera” - with melodious sludgy riffs and double bass and blast beats of drums on top, this track sets up the mood and atmosphere prevalent throughout the album. With many tremolo riffs in-between and fast drumming, the track thoroughly builds up its intensity to its last minute. With slow doomy riffs beginning the track “Through Darkened Days”, the bass in the mix really shines with its thick tone and nasty basslines. There are many interesting grooves and dynamic shifts throughout the midway. Expect some breakdowns with choppy notes and chugs in the outro section too.
The album title-track is another fine track which I was lucky enough to review a few days earlier. Read “Descendence” review on my website.
“Yet to Break” leads us into the second-half of the album with an acoustic intro, bleeding into speed-thrash riffs with fast drums. In a melodic death metal album, this song seems a rather unique choice - (probably an ode to the earlier godfathers of metal !)
“Artisan of Fates” showcases melo-death riffs highly reminiscent of At The Gates type songwriting, though the song knows when to embrace the ambience and slow itself down - for the chorus. Also the clean vocals with its harmonies shines during this moment. Also expect a special guitar solo. What felt a bit out of place is the placement of a clean section in the later-half, which kind of broke the flow and reset the momentum again for the outro.
“For the Ones We Lost” kind of follows the same route of songwriting like its previous track. Some catchy moments include the mid-ranged vocals in the chorus with guitar leads accompanying it, the marching drum beat throughout the track which ultimately builds up to a climactic end. The closing track “Fool’s End” showcases some high-end technical riffs which rapid fast dynamic and groove changes on drums - making it the most technical song of the album.
The boys from Prominentia kept the organic vibe to the album, which makes it pleasing and unique sounding. A rawness exists within the guitar tone and the gnarly bass tone of “Descendence”. The vocals channelise the lows in the style of old-school death metal. The clean mid-ranged vocals in the tracks of the second-half acts as a breath of fresh air. The sound of the drums is authentic which really pleases my ears in this modern time of highly processed and mechanical sound. The amount of melodic-ness and technicality is at a perfect balance to each other. “Descendence” is not a perfect record - it has a bit of flaws with repeating songwriting structures and a few misplaced parts which does not add to the composition much. Though, this does not take away the fact that these guys are good songwriters and their debut album is a pretty solid record - solid enough to make them establish themselves as a reputed death metal band in the upcoming days.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Website: https://www.facebook.com/ProminentiaOfficial
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Worldwide Release: February 10th, 2022.
