Labels: Southern Lord
Review by: Alex Deller
Seems like Xibalba are really trying to earn their Dan Seagrave album art with this one, and while I have no qualms with them bringing their death metal influence to the fore I just don’t think they’re quite nailing it. Admittedly the riffs seethe, the drumming is relentless and the heavy, Disembodied-meets-Dismember chuntering remains front and centre, but there’s just a lack of variety in terms of tone and pace that reduces it all to a lumpy, same-sounding slurry. Granted it has its moments (‘En Paz Descanse’, for example) and is uniformly heavy throughout, but the overriding impression is that while it’s definitely a wearying struggle, it isn’t necessarily the kind you want it to be.