Earth Rot - Renascentia album review

softwareuiphraseguid=“c275682a-2e53-4af5-be5c-ef89562c2e76”>SOFTWAREmark” gingersoftwareuiphraseguid=“c275682a-2e53-4af5-be5c-ef89562c2e76” id=“1b206815-be1a-4936-bef5-b415d933027c”>Renascentia is very much a tale of two halves for Earth Rot. By the time the black and death metal-informed four-piece’s second full-length ends with the grandiose Unfurled, The Cover Of Darkness, it’s clear that just when you think you have all the answers, they’ve changed the questions. The first fistful of tracks are muscular, meat ’n’ potatoes metal that are fun but ultimately forgettable. It’s not until the sixth song, The Bones That Lay Beneath The Earth, that the Australians really break free from their shackles. While it’s over much too soon, the number fuses Alice In Chainslike melodies and psych guitars to an insane saxophone solo courtesy of Shining’s Jørgen Munkeby. Bestial Shadow Forest throws some welcome classic metal licks into the pot before making way for album highlight Funeral Pyre. Laden with tremolo picking, mandolins and Spanish guitars, it’s an arresting and inventive game-changer.