Black Metal History Month -Ulthar : "Anthronomicon"

 The thing about blackened death metal is if it takes the riffing smarts of death metal and combines it with the darker mood of black metal is it a wonderful sonic force. Most of the time it results in the worst of both genres. This California band hits the mark on the opening track of their new album and rather than the more buzzing guitar I have already hear too much of this morning their are hooky riffs that grab my ears. This is not always the case. From death metal they also brought with them technical ability so by the second song, riffs are woven in an angular fashion all over the place. Then their black metal tendencies manage to turn this into a throb that owe more to Watain or Dissection depending on the angle with which they are coming from. I started writing this after my second listen to the album as the first listen found it grinding and blasting past my ears

"Flesh Propulsion" finds them digging into the grit of death metal. The vocals even take on a lower growl. There are a few cool riffs amid the maze of torment the song leads you into, but the rule here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. "Astranumeral Octave Chants" lashes out with feral vengeances, when the they ride the chug rather than plunge into chaos it works best. They are out to make this uneasy listening so it's not common that happens . They find more of a groove to beat your ears with on "Coagulation of Forms".  A minute and a half in the get spastic as the drumming is unable to control himself. When they get more deliberate it is a more enjoyable listen. 

The last two songs roar out of the aggressive frenzy that has generally possessed this album. The momentum causes the songs to collide and they fall from one another making it hard to tell not as much which song is which due to the uniform sonic feel. The riffing of the last song has more to latch onto , but not as much as the opening track. I will give this album an 8. They are good at what they do , what they do can just begin to sound the same at times.