Acrimonious, black metallers hailing from the armpits of Satan himself… Just kidding! These guys are from Athens, Greece. Having released a Demo in 2003 ‘Unholy Cult Demonic’ and then two EP’s in 2006 ‘Perdition Gospel’ and ‘Broken Bonds of Balance’ in 2007, then in 2009 their first full length album Purulence. Finally we have new album Sunyata which, after a few listens, I decided I wasn’t too impressed with.
Starting off with a beautifully yet depressive intro ‘Nexus Aosoth’ with atmospheric violins and keyboards leading on to ‘Lykaria Hecate’. A masterful track with a black metal feel. The riffs and drum rolls could blow your face off and some astounding old school style vocals with a touch of melody makes an exceptional track. ‘Adharma’ offers much of the same, yet delivers an imposing demonic vocal range with what can only sound like a wailing priest in the background! Ha! Superb! The slow tempo in this one again, reminds me of how black metal used to be, dark, glum and in your face!
A very random named ‘ Glory Crowned Son of the Thousand Petalled Lotus’ sounds a lot more like the newer stuff that’s out today. Nothing bad, just a lot more polished. Another thing I love about black metal vocals which is apparent on this track is the choking whilst trying to sing vocals! The guitar solo on this one is a bit of a surprise as it seems a bit merry for this kind of music, but whatever, it works fine! ‘The Hollow Wedjat’ (that’s the Eye of Horus) has an interesting one minute intro of just a one noted riff then belts in with some blasphemous, pain fuelled vocals. God knows what he’s screaming about, but it does sound damn painful! Perhaps some Imodium may clear it up fella?
Moving on to ‘Vitalising the Red-Purple in Asher-Zemurium’ (That’s quite a mouthful!) sounds like a completely different band if it wasn’t for the vocals. A lot more punk inspired and a guitar riffs way beyond what should be in a black metal track. However, the spewing up noise at the end was pretty cool!
Ending on ‘Black Kundalini’ which is a bit of a shame, as there’s nothing new to offer, nothing to give you that extra push for you to go out and buy the album. Granted, it’s not a shit song, there’s definitely a touch of Gorgoroth’s style in there. But it’s already been done.
All in all, if you’re a hardcore black metaller that burns churches and sleeps in corpse paint, then you’ll probably like this. Personally it was a 50/50 scale for me. Some good, some bad, and some we’ve heard before. However, it was definitely listenable!
(4/10 Charlene Rance)
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