Apostento – No Save Haven
Reviewed By: Kenneth Gallant
Review Score: 8
Longtime Spanish death metal maniacs Aposento return with their fourth full length studio recording, No Safe Haven. This time around, original vocalist Carlos Garcia rejoins the group to deliver a bestial
performance; bringing his voracious attitude back to the band. Carlos was a member of Aposento between the years of 1993-1997, so it’s great to hear his familiar monstrous roar once more. For those following along, Carlos was vocalist on the Welcome To Darkness EP (1997). The other notable change is bassist Manu Reyes switching over to guitar for this one, and he’s been replaced on bass by Pablo Vazquez. In addition, new drummer Raul Ceballos joins the fold to round out therejigged line-up.
Now with those changes made, the band still tear it up hard on No Safe Haven; continuing to match the relentlessness heard previously on 2020’s Conjuring The New Apocalypse. The most important question to be had here after all the changes have been acknowledged, is how do they sound overall? Well, I’m happy to report they rip it up hard for those who love old school death metal; clocking in at exactly thirty-four minutes.
I just love death metal that provides so much meat on the bones and keeps the songs short, but deathly sweet at the same time. Every track is brutal and powerful sounding thanks to Carlos Garcia’s growling all throughout. The guitars churn at a torrid pace and with buzz-saw precision, while the brutality is cranked up to eleven. I will say there is a definite 90’s Florida feel to the production and overall sound.
The opening track ‘No Safe Haven’ pummels out of the gate, sounding absolutely monstrous. The brutal chugs and growls are splendid representations of what early 90’s death metal had to offer. I love the gore obsessed lyrics to ‘Tortured And Abuse’, evoking the sounds of early Exhumed and Autopsy. Then you get tracks like ‘Uncertain Death’ and ‘A Texas Funeral’ churning out the meatiest compositions that sound so rabid and nasty.
The spirited chug of ‘The Bad Seed’ is music to my ears, but I found the relentless chug of ‘Where Darkness Reigns’ hit hard like a ton of bricks to the face. The growls and thunderous guitars reminded me of mid period Death at times and it scratched that itch for my love of classic death metal. ‘Let It Bleed’ slowed down the pace at the start, but the galloping intensity that followed could easily snap your neck if you tried headbanging all through the song. Garcia’s vocals were on point here as he sounded so hideous and rabid.
‘The Devil’s Bargain’ delivers a pummelling chug and is heavily punctuated by Garcia’s blood-curdling scream filtered through those gurgling pipes of his. The same intensity follows in ‘As Your Life Ends’ with truly meaty guitars that provide such a thunderous roar of sensation. Then things end in a violent burst of energy with ‘Parasitos’. Garcia can be heard spitting out the most vile and guttural-sounding vocals that verbally replicate a demon being released from an Evil Dead film. I loved his vocal delivery here to cap things off.
Ultimately, No Safe Haven is a solid offering for those who prefer the classic period of early death metal. I especially like the homage to the Floridian sound and how it influences certain elements in the songs, but doesn’t become a total copycat. For me, the real star here are the vocals and it’s great to see Carlos Garcia return to the fold.
No Safe Haven drops on July 2nd via Xtreem Music.