Not what you would expect from American Black Metal unless you were factoring a band like Worm into the equation, as they are darker and more experimental, owing more to Mayhem, with their angular creep. They do throw blast beats into the first song, but it is already after it has been contrasted with more deliberate drumming. There is a cool unhinged element to what they do. "Oblivion is Yours to Labyrinth" finds the ghastly grumbling of the vocals sounding like their vocalist is losing his mind in the vocal booth. They pick up speed but without going into blast beats here. They flirt with prog a bit here. This can be heard in the chaos that unfolds here. This album is much more experimental than I remember them being.
Is this album black metal? Well, it is dark so that steers them in that direction. The key here is that the songs are so interesting it does not really matter what direction they lean in genre-wise." Vitriolic Hiss" has the dissonant riff grooving with syncopated accents. Two mintues in and they have already covered a great deal of ground. Guitar solos are more accents than showcased shredding. The vocals continue to shift through growls and moans. The vocals are really well produced, with effects making the most of the crazed sounds coming from him. It makes the album like a ride through a hsunted house.
You are four songs in before they hit you with blast beats. The vocals are so feral at this point it makes sense. But it's the weakest of the first four songs. In the last minute, things come together thanks to some cool riffs. Then they come at you from the other end of the spectrum with some dark melodic vibes that are more sung over, but the vocals sit back in reverb. Odd electronics also color things to make "Dis Obedient Woe" perhaps the album's best song.They take a more thrashing turn for "Goslave and Blood Mortar". It is ne of the more straight-up metal moments. "A Seance to Specter" works off a more atmospheric weirdness, creating it's throb. This transitions into a more furious burst of black metal and then ebbs back and forth between the two dynamics.
They are less kind to your ears on"Golgothic Holocaust". They double down on the blast mcnasty here, midway in the drop, down to more of a half time groove that feels darker and heavier. The demonic declarations continue, forming an effective narrative for this album. The title track closes things out. It is more riff-oriented and deliberate, with vocals not sung but holding more purpose in the darker shadow the song casts. I will give this album a 9 and see how it grows on me; it is one of the more original metal albums I've heard in a minute. This drops October 16th on Transcending Obscurity Records.
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