DESICATION releases full-length album Legatum Mortuorum, now available for streaming!
May 15, 2026
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4
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Legatum Mortuorum, the crushing new full-length from blackened doom metal trio DESICCATION, is streaming in its entirety! The premiere comes on the eve of the record’s release, Friday, May 15th through Carbonized Records.
Legatum Mortuorum blends wholly non-dual elements: blasting drums and tremolo-picked guitars give way to spacious, slow riffs, and sprawling synths. Lyrically, themes of loss and grief are intertwined with moments of transcendence and connection. Aggression and beauty, hope and hopelessness are woven together to translate inner experience into the outer world. DESICCATION builds upon their 2022 debut, Cold Dead Earth, adding deeper layers of synth over more aggressive black/death riffing. Familiar elements of emotive melody and sludgy death-doom are strengthened by a solid extreme metal backbone. All three band members contribute vocals that complement the varied, long-form songwriting.
Of the title track, Everything Is Noise hails, “a pallet of blackened doom with some other elements of death and post-metal set to foist itself on anyone unready to absorb its rousing malaise.” Asphyxium 'Zine writes, “[DESICCATION] crafts a vast, cinematic soundscape that evokes a time long after civilization’s collapse. You can envision ruined countries, burning or crumbling structures, and the disintegration of nature; dark clouds obscuring the final sunset over long-dead fields. Yet, amidst the devastation, subtle hints of the last survivors emerge, gathered in scattered locations, hoping to someday restore the Earth and begin anew. However, as many have questioned, does humanity truly learn from its mistakes, or are we doomed to repeat history time and again?” Meat Mead Metal lauds, “an exciting, and immersive take on black metal-influenced doom (or is it doom-encrusted black metal?), and all of the strange twists and turns to which DESICCATION commits. It feels like they’re branching beyond this world, further than their minds have before, and the results are physically and emotionally intense. This is not music to approach lightly; it must be considered with your full heart and mind because you will go on an excursion that will return you battered for the better.” Adds Out Of Rage, “DESICCATION have evolved, their sound has equally become grander and more cinematic, yet also more unrelenting at times unnerving.”
Legatum Mortuorum was composed and arranged by James Bratt in Nevada City, tracked, mixed, and mastered by Patrick Hills at his own EarthTone Studios, Sacramento and features cover art by MFAXII, inner artwork by Blial Cabal, and audio sigil by View From the Coffin.
The record also features specials guests Alex Miletich (Vile Rites, Mortuous) who plays lead guitar on the title track and Karl Cordtz (Feral Season, Chrch) who provides additional vocals on “The Alchemy Of Grief,” “Ashes Unto The Abyss,” and “Lamentations Beyond The Veil,” as well as additional guitar on “Lamentations Beyond The Veil.”
Legatum Mortuorum will be released on CD, LP, cassette, and digital formats.
Find North American preorders HERE, European preorders HERE, all other international orders HERE and digital orders HERE.
Hailing from Nevada City and Sacramento, California, DESICCATION was formed in 2022 by husband-and-wife team of James (guitars, vocals, synths) and Soell Bratt (vocals), along with Patrick Hills (drums, bass, synths, background vocals). The band combines a unique mix of doom, death, black, and post-metal to portray a bleak world in which shards of hope glimmer amid the wasted aftermath of collapsing nations and burning ecosystems.
Stream / Buy / Download the album on Bandcamp
Inspired by the absorbing sounds of bands like Emperor, Evoken, and Blut Aus Nord, and growing up in the forests of Northern California, both James and Soell spent much of their lives in the solitude of a small mountain town. Together the collective focuses on doom-driven weight and patience emphasizing space and repetition; atmospheric extremity that is rooted in black and death metal. Ritual, grief, and transcendence expressed through layered sonic atmospheres…
DESICCATION:
James Bratt – guitars, vocals, synths
Soell Bratt – vocals
Patrick Hills – drums, bass, synths, background vocals
DESICCATION:
Thank you very much Earsplit PR
I am not the owner of the picture, video or original song. Therefore, all rights belong to their respective owners. If you are the owner of the picture, video or any of the songs, write me a private message located on the information page and I will delete the video, photos immediately!!
Photo by © James Bratt
