The final album by the Spanish war metal horde didn't diverge even to the slightest from delivering exactly what was expected, and exactly at the same manner: bestial chaos in reverb and echo. As daring this style inherently is, Proclamation had decide to fully compromise to its definition parameters with a record that sounded like their previous works, sounded like well-known war metal, focused on efficient simplicity and primitive aggression you already know of.
It's hard to tell tracks apart, as they all move at the same fast-tempos and feature a thick, noisy production that turns the guitars into a layered sound rather than a more noticeable aspect. The few riffs and solos that one can notice are great, yet the overall frantic attitude of the record is executed well, but repeated to exhaustion not just by Proclamation, but by the whole of this genre. A ten-track runtime feels a bit tedious, it relies too heavily on washed-out reverb and sits well as a product of a stale, yet clear-cut formula. Fans of black / death metal are right to worship this band, especially as one of the voices of its more recent status and rebirth 15 years after the classics of the '90s, but that's about it. Combined with the never-failing, red-and-white blasphemous cover art, the purposeful murk and raw noise in visuals and music, Proclamation made just another standard war metal album, before breaking up a year later. Being active for a decade (2003 to 2013), the band was infamous in the '00s inside that niche's circles, and the record proves why.
It works like a charm, given that you already are a fan and have the appetite for this specific sound. I wouldn't be able to say which Proclamation album I prefer even if my life depended on it, and despite their shortcomings whenever I listen to them again, I somehow always suggest them around for a listen. A mediocre yet acceptable blast of underground chaos.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
