While one may not picture Birmingham, Alabama as a hotbed of death metal activity, Black Hole Deity once again arises to shift the world's focus to this inconspicuous city. Coming three years after their very well-received EP, Lair of Xenolich, the foursome unleashes their debut full-length, Profane Geometry, via Everlasting Spew. Eschewing the traditional violence, evil, gore, satanism, etc, lyrical content of the genre, Black Hole Deity chose to take the sci-fi/supernatural horror approach with Profane Geometry, and the lyrical tone certainly matches the fun, engaging metal behind it. The end result is an old-school influenced, but forward take on modern death that moves at the perfect pace to enjoy every element while continuing to propel forward and not get self-indulgent.
On first inspection, Profane Geometry feels like a fairly safe, old school inspired bit of death, but as the album unfolds, the craftsmanship and skillful arrangements begin to bubble up and reveal the true nature of Black Hole Deity's creation. Floating in a great space between old and new, classic and technical, Profane Geometry moves in its own space and time, weaving together many sounds and influences to create something engaging, head-nodding, and most of all, fun. As stated above, the lyrical/thematic direction allows the band to take the music in more directions and get a bit more high flying. This angle gives the album a more open and approachable feel, so that even if songs may deal with war and nuclear annihilation, they're still able to avoid the oppressive doom and gloom that many other bands revel in (and not that that's a bad thing!). Black Hole Deity's approachable nature is even evident on the cover, as the band's logo is just somewhat gothic, pointy text that is completely legible. The band itself is firing on all cylinders, with excellent riffs and lots of well structured guitar solos on top of extremely tight and propulsive drumming. Vocally, they take a dark, raspy growl that adds a nice darkness without getting cartoony. There is a touch of old school influence on display here, most notably (to me) Morbid Angel, but it's definitely light and adds a nice familiarity to the album.
Although it took about three years from conception to release, Profane Geometry was definitely worth the wait as the time was well spent. There isn't a moment of this album where one says, "hmm...really?" or "that feels unfinished," and with the shorter runtime, the repeat spins don't get tiresome. From the cover art to the last note of "Demons Beneath," Profane Geometry is an excellent work of death metal mayhem.
