Convulse

Convulse playing 'World Without God' at East Coast one-off, prepping new LP

Finnish death metal vets Convulse were initially around for a few years in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and then their career got a boost when Relapse reissued their 1992 debut World Without God in 2010. Convulse reunited two years later, released two albums (2013’s Evil Prvails and 2016’s Cycle of Revenge), and now they’re in the process of writing another new album. They put out a demo for the new song “Deathstar” a few days ago, and you can hear that below.

Meanwhile, Convulse are also revisiting the past to play World Without God in full at an exclusive East Coast one-off, happening at NYC’s Brooklyn Bazaar on July 7 with Embalmer and Immortal Suffering. Tickets are on sale. It’s Convulse’s only scheduled date at the moment.

If you’re unfamiliar with World Without God, this Metal Archives review should shed some light:

Today, I present to you one of my personal favorite Finnish death metal albums, Convulse’s World Without God. Released way back in 1992, this doozy got a bit more attention in 2010 when Relapse gave it a re-release with some additional content in the form of demos and stuff. While the 2010 version is loud and compressed, the original had shit production as well, so it’s not like they killed a classic by remastering it, and the additional content is great for collectors. Let’s put it this way, the remaster job is nowhere near as awful as the hack job that Dan Swano did to Molested’s Blod-Draum. That’s basically my comparison point for remasters these days. So back on topic, this shit is awesome! What we have here is some guttural, murky, and somewhat doomy death metal that incorporates every aspect of the Finnish sound that you know and love.

I love generic, cheesy, pretentious, over-the-top synth intros. Honestly, as horribly fake and lame as they sound, they represent an attempt at something that might have passed as “epic,” and I like that ambition. However, most of them end up being like bad horror movies–sure, you love them and cherish their place in society, but you can acknowledge that they’re awful. That’s what we get here with the cleverly titled ‘Intro.’ As ill-fitting as it is, I always dig this kind of stuff for some morbid reason that I can’t quite pick out.

Anyway, once the actual death metal starts, we’re presented with some immediate riffwork that clarifies that this is, in fact, a death metal album with the first track, ‘World Without God.’ Not only that, but we’re quickly exposed to the varying speeds that convulse implements. While their most memorable riffs are the slow ones, they can easily adapt and write some very enjoyable fast-paced sections as well. Still, I find that Convulse is at their best in the slow sections. Just listen to the short bit starting at 1:38. Sure, it’s a very small segment of an oft-changing song, but that little lead melody, in my opinion, adds a lot of definition the the song, giving what is otherwise one of Convulse’s faster songs a slb of that doomy touch that they’re so good at utilizing. The speed contrasts are, in my mind, what make this such a good song.

Convulse also just gave World Without God its first official cassette release. Stream the album, along with the demo of the new song, below.