Black Metal History Month - Acriminous: "Eleven Dragons"

If Watain never listened to Fields of the Nephilim and was just out to make raging in satanic black metal they would sound more like this, here is one of th rare occasions where the geographic   influenced is numbed out as these guys sound more like they are from Sweden than they do Greece. The guitar is pretty ripping , yet the bass is even more impressive, the drummer just knows he has to be good. They hold off on the reckless blast bets til the 3rd song.Dissection is also a fair comparison when they are not locked in the faster more modern black metal sound which would then default back to Watain.

They are capable of indulging a more melodic side to bring a more majestic color out, though this quickly falls back into blast beats about a couple minutes into "Elder of the Nashiym". The bass is audible and the guitar works together well and gives the song the space it needs. The spoken word sections are ok as in the are a departure from the normal vocal roar. The drummer gets the job done, but haven't really heard him shine yet.These guys are capable of throwing some nice melodic interludes together, would be cooler to hear them in context of a song and in some cases unsure why they are not just the intro to the song that follows it. "Qayin Rex Mortis" blasts off with manic thrashing and sounds pretty much like the rest of the black metal that is influenced by Bathory. They keep up this furious pace on "Ominous Visions of Nod" which rages in a blur right past me until the bother to slow down into a darker throb. Unable to control themselves they speed back up into a more deliberate tantrum and then back down again so you can't fault them for a lack of trying.

When they slow down to take the time to smell the burning churches and go with some some lower more guttural growls they begin to step out of the shadow of their influences on " Stirring the Ancient Waters" . 'Litany of Moloch's Feast" just kind of blasts by and seems a little like a waste after we heard  this band really begin to come into their own. They further their addiction to speed with the more thrashy closing song. It is however a song that is over seven minutes so they can afford to blast into it at the beginning , but I am more curious to hear what else they can do. I'll give this album an 8, just when I think they are sinking into what every other black metal band would do they throw me a surprise.