God I Love Violence

Do you love violence? Actually, maybe don't answer that if anyone is within earshot. What matters is that I love violence. Sometimes. And I just so happened to be in the mood when I stumbled upon the new Celestial Sanctuary album. Its name, "Insatiable Thirst For Torment", may have tipped me off as to what I was in for, and I was not disappointed. This record is a lethal injection of pure, unadulterated brutality.

The opening track, "Trapped within the Rank Membrane" immediately launches within a grimy, chugging riff that quickly descends into blistering drums and characteristically deep death metal howling. The frequent alternating between nasty, plodding headbang chords and brutally fast drumming creates a compelling back and forth that lies at the center of this album's appeal. Every time I feel like the bars are getting a little repetitive, Celestial Sanctuary switches up the

tempo.

But the first track almost feels like a warmup compared to the follow up, "Glutted With Chunder". What a sick name, by the way. I didn't even know chunder was a word, but it really doesn't even need to be, it fits perfectly into a death metal track name either way. The blistering drums and violent melodic passages here are punctuated by brief, dizzying guitar solos, almost like you're hearing the screams of your enemies. Sounds about right.

As you move into the midpoint of the album, "Meandering Stream of Foul Fluid" starts and ends with a spacey, almost proggy hook, sandwiching another extended stretch of nastiness. It’s a welcome but short-lived break from the madness, and you’re back to ripping and tearing in the next track before you know it.

“Unquenchable Thirst” is the second-to-last song on the record and burns a little more slowly than most of the other tracks. The build-up is longer, and the chugging riffs linger for a while. It sounds like you’re at the vanguard of a demonic army marching to war against some fantasy human kingdom that fucked up and is about to find out.

All that being said, this album definitely isn’t a masterpiece. It gets repetitive at times, and there are multiple segments of some tracks that have little to no personality. You might not want to listen to Insatiable Thirst for Torment all the way through if you just want something to vibe and headbang to, but if you ever feel like killing something, it might be worth putting on.