Written by Kep
Hyperdontia – Harvest of Malevolence
> Death metal
> Denmark/Turkey
> Releasing June 21
> Dark Descent Records / Me Saco Un Ojo Records
Y’all know me: I’m the internet’s foremost Hyperdontia hype man. I firmly believe that Hyperdontia is better than your favorite death metal band. My thoughts on Harvest of Malevolence are unsurprising, given that context, so I’m not gonna beat around the bush here. It rules and they remain in the absolute upper echelon of the contemporary death metal scene.
The reasons for this are manifold. But let’s get the particulars out of the way first, for those unfamiliar. The international four-piece hails from Denmark and Turkey, and they’ve been tearing shit up since their debut EP Abhorrence Veil back in 2017. Harvest of Malevolence is their third full-length effort and second with the current personnel, featuring frontman Mathias Friborg and Mustafa Gürcalioğlu on guitars, drummer Tuna, and the otherworldly talent of Malik Çamlica on bass. This mostly-original lineup has been together for several years after adding Friborg in 2018 and splitting amicably with former vocalist David Mikkelsen (Undergang, Phrenelith) in 2019, building on the identity established by the band’s earliest releases (Abhorrence Veil and 2018’s acclaimed Nexus of Teeth) to create some of the scene’s most punishing, interesting, and intricate OSDM. A couple splits, 2021 sophomore LP Hideous Entity (my review here), and a beast of an EP last year round out their catalogue.
Okay, back to the business at hand: heaping praise on one of the best death metal releases of 2024. The thing you can always rely upon Hyperdontia for is a wealth of filthy, ripping old school riffs that don’t feel stale or overdone, and Harvest of Malevolence is par for the course in that regard. It’s a no interludes, no bullshit listen that delivers from the first breathless seconds of “Death’s Embrace”. There’s no rest, no relaxation, and no breaks, even within the riffs themselves, which are highly active and never get bogged down, cleverly shifting rhythmic emphases and turning on a dime into new but related territory. If you’re looking for a band that stops to caveman chug on one or two chords, look elsewhere, because the axework here is highly detailed and in constant motion. “Marking the Rite” is a particularly punishing example, establishing a chunky riff in triplets before alternating it with a thick duple melodic-ish theme that carves its way under the vocals. Later there’s a new duple theme, lively and angular, that provides the base for a barbaric solo and full throttles its way into a wild finish.
Speaking of solos, Friborg and Gürcalioğlu predictably show out on that front, as does Çamlica, whose solo passages are only one of the reasons that he’s this generation’s Alex Webster. There’s something extraordinarily satisfying about the way Hyperdontia incorporates the bass into the riff framework, allowing it to act sometimes as a true bottom end soundbed, sometimes at a monstrous unison or in tight harmony with the guitars, and often freewheeling its way through the sort of breakneck licks that make you do a double take (check out the middle section of “Pervasive Rot” to get your breath snatched). Tuna, for his part, delivers the platonic ideal of death metal drums, precise yet brutal and as whirlwind exciting as it is catchy.
It’s the top to bottom polished unity of their riff structures that sets this band apart from their peers—that, and the fact that the tracks built around these structures all stand out and exude songwriting prowess. Eight meaty numbers over 40 minutes is pretty much as perfect as it gets lengthwise, and none of them sound or feel alike in that way that makes some OSDM albums drag. No filler, no skips: hell, the record drops perhaps its best track in the penultimate spot when “Defame Flesh” groans ponderously into being and then drops precipitously into a tight syncopated main riff, barreling downhill with bits of thrash, finding chug-centric grooves highlighted by nasty trills, and sailing a classic harmonized dusk solo over top. Closer “Servants to a Cripple God” is one that’s sure to stick with listeners also, filled with merciless vitriol, killer harmonized leads, battering blasts, and a pair of particularly memorable bass solos.
The production on Harvest of Malevolence should please pretty much any death metal fan, including those who weren’t as enraptured by the slightly rounder, bulkier sound on Hideous Entity—though I enjoyed it and thought it was excellent, I think the sound on Harvest is better. It’s colossal, crunchy, and has a wicked serrated edge to it that’s in line with the guitars on Nexus of Teeth, thick but gloriously able to rip and tear. The ensemble is perfectly balanced in powerful mix that’s not without a little old school room for the instruments to breathe, Çamlica’s fingerstyle bass bubbling and rippling through the texture when it needs to, and Friborg’s phlegmy gurgling growl is like a generous duxelles or dripping entrails heaved chestily over top. I genuinely can’t think of a criticism.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Hyperdontia have done it again: Harvest of Malevolence is the best straight ahead death metal album of the year so far. I know some fans who weren’t as in on Hideous Entity as they were on Nexus of Teeth, but I’m damn sure those people will be more than in on this one; it’s immaculate no matter what way you look at it. Take a good look and listen, folks: modern OSDM doesn’t get much better than this.