Death Vomit is one of Indonesia's oldest and most well-known brutal death metal bands. They have been around since 1995, but have only recorded three full-length albums since then. Their first was The Prophecy in 2006. Their music was a great mixture of Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse, but the production was muffled. Rottrevore Records was in dire financial straits at the time, so they were unable to get a proper recording setup for this album. Their second full-length, Forging a Legacy, was released eight years later and featured much better production. The vocals were too high in the mix, though. Six years after that, they released their latest album Dominion Over Creation, which is quite possibly their best to date.
The production is just about perfect. It doesn't sound muffled and there are no mixing problems. It sounds clear but is still heavy. The music is about the same as it was on their previous full-length. They still play their own brand of brutal death metal that is influenced by bands such as Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse. This is no surprise given how the lineup has remained exactly the same. Drummer Roy Agus starts off the album with an intricate pattern and continues to impress from there on out. One moment he plays slow and simple patterns that occasionally include double bass. The next minute he plays rapid and precise blast beats.
Deep in the darkness dwells Oki Haribowo, whose bass work helps to bolster the rest of the music, making it sound even more menacing. He truly shines during the slow parts on songs like “Ancient Spell Of Evil”. Sofyan Hadi's vocal work has remained exactly the same, and I'm fine with that. His hoarse growls are dark and vicious, and although they don't have the outright brutality of the guttural growling style that is ubiquitous in the modern scene, they have a lot more character.
He also continues to deliver fantastic guitar work. All of the various riffs he plays have a strong old school quality to them, but they're still more captivating than most modern riffs. Sometimes he plays mid-paced riffs that are filled with large amounts of groove, such as those on the opening track. He will then pick up the pace and play frantic palm-muted and tremolo riffs. He also throws in a few chugging power chords on occasion. Some riffs sound really old and almost thrash-like, such as those on “Ancient Spell Of Evil”, but I still like them. They show the band's age in a good way as well as the roots of the entire brutal death metal genre.
Dominion Over Creation is easily the best album Death Vomit has ever made. Not only did they fix all the production problems, but they also polished their music to a spectacular degree. They went out of their way to make the experience both brutal and thoughtful, and in doing so, they have become one of the shining examples of why Indonesia has one of the best brutal death metal scenes currently in existence.