Hour of Penance are a technical death metal band from Italy; When listening to ‘Sedition‘ their fifth full-length release in a long thirteen year career, your heart is ripped from your chest, consumed then…handed back to you, let us say that this album is not for the faint-hearted. The first thing I noticed after the ambient-choir opening of ‘Sedition’ was the amazing sounding drums, the production on this album is fantastic extremely clear sounding however not at all sounding over-produced.
For Hour of Penance this is the first time with current drummer Simone Piras and second time with vocalist Paolo Pieri who replaced Francesco Paoli that left the band for Fleshgod Apocalypse, which I find weird due to the fact that this album has sounded the most similar to Fleshgod’s style than previous albums. The new members have really shown why the deserve to be musicians of Hour of Penance from Piras’s crushing drums to Pieri’s guttural vocals from the depths of hell.
The highlight songs on this album are, ‘Enlightened Submission‘ this is the introduction to Sedition, this song has a very Vital Remains sound originating from the guitar tone. This song crushes your brain, from the constant battery of the drums to the roar of Pieri’s vocals. The second highlight is ‘Ascension‘; this song starts of with a morbid sounding horror sample, then comes the a cry of war from the drums, with a fantastic guitar riff over the top that creates a power that only Hour of Penance can create. The third highlight is ‘Sedition Through Scorn‘ this wall of sound is brilliantly spaced out with ride bell hits that make it sound so brutal, followed by various guitar lead sections that bring a harmonic texture to the album.
Sedition is filled with raw power, fantastic production and brilliant musicianship, the only thing that lets down this album, is the length, it is their shortest album to date weighing in at only 31 minutes, but I guess you cannot be too picky. This album would make a perfect addition to any death metal lovers collection, 8 out of 10.
drummer149 