Pounding and pummeling their way through your speakers over eight vile and venomous tracks, Fossilization bring primordial terror back to death metal, and it's never felt so right. Although only forming in 2020, the duo has a tightness and drive that many bands strive for, but never achieve. The mix of brutality and skill on Leprous Daylight brings together many elements of Fossilization's inspirations and gives the listener fertile ground for their own thoughts, ideas, and influences to grow. Although the album is fantastically brutal and grim, it's not over the top and distracting, it's just the right amount. The darkness isn't complete and total, which allows some of the more technical and almost progressive elements to show through. These are used somewhat sparingly and as accent points, but they're extremely well placed, welcome, and help to lift the tone of the album up out of the muck. Moments of clarity are often overlooked or taken for granted when darkness is the major factor of the album. But where there is dark, there is light, albeit very little. With this bit of breathing room, Leprous Daylight uses the thicker sound in delightfully oppressive ways instead of leaning more toward the lo-fi realm. Fossilization doesn't just rely on brute force to get their point across, though, and the pace change into the final minutes of the album showcase the band's ability to work within varied tempos.

 

Although somewhat new to the scene, Fossilization's debut full length has all the character and skill as that of a veteran band. This is due to the duo's work with their other band, Jupiterian. Utilizing their skills for songwriting and instrumentation, they put their all into this death metal project, and Leprous Daylight hits it out of the park. Currently embarking on a European tour, one can only hope that Fossilization makes it to their part of the world to dazzle with heavy doom and gloom.