My excitement over this record has simply failed to ignite. I found myself enthralled by Reign Of The Unending and its mighty, Immortal inspired freezing Black Metal! I was keen to get into the previous chapter by the New Jersey based outfit but it has not been so. All the hallmarks are intact, pummeling blitz drumming, icy tremolo guitar noise, the vocals have both the shrill screams and the jaunting burly discernible roars. What it doesn't have nailed down is production. Its a scratchy, low fidelity affair that seems to fall folly to the fumbles Immortal did too on records like Blizzard Beasts.
On the other hand it could a case of "not in the mood" or burn out. I exhausted myself on the Immortal sound many moons ago with over indulgent binges. Death Fortress's previous record could of benefited from the charms of a nostalgia trip, resurrecting the fond excitement of unearthing this mysterious Black Metal music in my youth. The record does have a moments or two tho, Wisdom Of The Unspoken musters up a whirlwind of ferocity in the middle of the record after a slow build up. Its not enough though and flicking between the two records highlights some clear issues.
The overall tone and aesthetic is dulled by a scratchy convergence of sound where the intentional collision of instruments goes a little too far, leaving a certain frequency range sounding like white noise. It is all to easy to focus on. Its predecessor doesn't have this issue and I always notice how much clearer the drums rattle and the snare pops on that record. The guitars too feel denser where as here everything feels loose, sloppy and lacking in definition. The record passes without any interesting song structures or musical moments, it tends to just imminently drift from my focus.
Rating: 4/10