Drowned – Procul His

Originally founded in 1992 in the German capital (Berlin), Drowned recently released just their second full-length entitled Procul His. It arrives ten years after its 2014 predecessor, first full-length Idola Specus. Before you now think that this unholy German trio is a bunch of lazy guys, I can tell that they’ve gone through a decent number of demos, split-ups, line-up changes, and ‘comatose intervals’.

What we find on Procul His are eight tracks clocking at app. 43 minutes. Song are a bit longer than what we usually hear from a death metal combo. Nevertheless all eight songs on Procul His constantly evolve and oscillating between scorching death/thrash, punishing tremolo notes, doom-laden dirges and even a few hints of prog. I like their energy and straightforward approach where the vocalist and bassist G offers a variety in vocals, with some vicious, grunting & guttural death metal roars and some deeper black metal screams and shrieks. The same can be said of drummer’s T2’s technique which is pretty solid and diverse, delivering a good amount of high-quality blastbeats. It’s been topped by a former Necros Christos guitarist Tl which delivers some manacing, ecstatic, relentless and meandering riffs.

First of the two of my favourite tracks from Procul His, is an amazing album opener called “Star Tower”, mainly due to unique guitar riffs (paired with some unconventional guitar layers), excellent floating basslines, punishing drumming and an overwhelming atmosphere. Next track worth mentioning here is “Blue Moth Vault” – which offers something slightly different from the rest of the tracks; namely influences of blackened death metal, filled with numerous blastbeats, tremolo picking and dark and gloomy soundscapes, like at some proper doom/black metal release.

The lyrical content of Procul His revolve around subjects like the occultism, darkness and other more or less abstract themes. The atmosphere is colossal, morbid and dense, while the production is flawless; being raw, dark and heavy, yet where every instrument equally shines through.

With the release of their sophomore album Procul His, the Berliners proof that they’re still relevant and capable of delivering an authentic & high-quality death metal album that will please all worshippers of the likes of Darkthrone, Hate Eternal, Incantation, Tribulation, Venenum, The Ominous Circle, and similar black/death acts.

For more info on this particular release visit https://drowned.bandcamp.com/album/procul-his