{"id":106149,"date":"2026-05-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=106149"},"modified":"2026-07-10T12:13:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T11:13:30","slug":"album-review-consecration-exanimis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-consecration-exanimis\/","title":{"rendered":"CONSECRATION – Exanimis (2026) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

CONSECRATION
\nExanimis<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNuclear Winter (2026)<\/span>
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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An unnatural fog has begun to take hold of East Anglia and it signals the return of death-doom band Consecration. Exanimis<\/em> is the fourth full-length instalment from the Norwich, England-based phenomenon whose unearthly creaks and groans sounds like the moans from an old vessel, stranded within and choked by sea frets and thick mists on the Norfolk coast.<\/p>\n

Consecration writhes in their own discarded layers of ash as opener \u2018Herald Of Darkness\u2019 comes trudging out of the cracks. It\u2019s almost as if someone has slowed Morbid Angel down to a crawl as the sludgy vocals converse with similarly clogged percussion, and let\u2019s talk about those drums. It\u2019s easy for one to throw concrete slabs out of the window, but here the drums literally cause brain ache as the putrid pulsations march with deep despair.<\/p>\n

Exanimis<\/em> reminds us all of the colossal presence Consecration holds within the death-doom scene and yet the clan remains overlooked somehow. Maybe it\u2019s down to the simple fact that the band is wary of providing unnecessary frills. Instead, they clamber, slither and trudge through their repertoire with such organic menace.<\/p>\n

The eight-minute \u2018Configuration Of Lamentation\u2019 brings heavy rain to its pallid oozing. Vocalist Daniel Bollans dribbles silt from his mouth, grinding his teeth to ash as he bellows: \u201cThese exquisite labyrinthine corridors of hell, (Are) henceforth shown to me, Hadean harbingers of pain \u2013 dark voyeurs clad in death, Have become well known to me\u201d<\/em>. The guitars trickle through sodden soul, the drums act as morbid plods before a cold atmosphere chugs into earshot. There\u2019s a blackened gloom and a conjuration of archaic grey plumes as the riff nods with despair.<\/p>\n

The shorter yet as equally suffocating \u2018Submerged In Sand\u2019 is a behemoth bursting with sediment. The title is literal as Bollans drags us into the dragging terror of being consumed by desert grains. There are colder climates to contend with on \u2018Domain Of Despair\u2019, the combo heading into slow motion funeral doom to aid the wretched Bollans gasps. \u201cThe cold embrace of icy winter fingers,\u201d<\/em> he gurgles. \u201cAnd the decayed, avidly clawing at my skin\u201d<\/em>. The drums of Jorge Figueiredo are mere bell tolls heralding mists of doom.<\/p>\n

Consecration heads off towards eight-minute territory again and furthermore on \u2018Cold Grey Stone\u2019, a monolith easing itself so slowly across ancient ground and promoted by further unseen esoteric forces; their tormented moans rolling in tandem with the miserable axe work of Liam Houseago and Andy Matthews. Extra layers of grumbling thunder are provided by bassist Matthew Bollans, particularly on the colossal \u2018Harvester Of The Forsaken\u2019 and the steady crush of \u2018Descent Into Derangement\u2019. There\u2019s little fun to be had within the maze of crooked gravestones; Consecration cast thick stifling shadows laced with spores of grey mould and particles of ice.<\/p>\n

With heavy drags towards ye olde English 90s aching, black doom metal scene, Exanimis<\/em> is very much the dense, cloying rain storm the Met Office regularly forecasts for Britain. With its essence of fusty familiarity and unwavering ability to drag you through humid and derelict marble halls, this latest slab chambers into your soul and ever so slowly turns your innards to ash.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CONSECRATION Exanimis Nuclear Winter (2026) Rating: 8\/10 An unnatural fog has begun to take hold of East Anglia and it signals the return of death-doom band Consecration. Exanimis is the fourth full-length instalment from the Norwich, England-based phenomenon whose unearthly creaks and groans sounds like the moans from an old vessel, stranded within and choked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4885],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-consecration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106150,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106149\/revisions\/106150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}