Absolutely no messing about courtesy of a short, sharp three-track demo from this Germanic five-piece. To hell with intros or any of that sort of window-dressing – ‘Til Only The Light is Left’ races out of the gates in a surge of churning, corrosive guitar from the get-go and Dysangelium then spend the next twelve-and-a-half minutes carving themselves indelibly into our cortexes with their own brand of densely-woven orthodox black metal.
Sure, there’s a vague aura of familiarity here – a touch of countrymen Ascension in the controlled chaos of their driving attack offset by dexterous moments of lead guitar, a hint of Funeral Mist’s cold clattering savagery – but even at this early stage in their career, Dysangelium are forging their own sound. A good portion of this is down to the vocals of Sektarist 0 – a demented, throaty shout that takes a little getting used to but ultimately injects ‘Leviaxxis’ with unhinged menace. Resembling the quasi-possessed ravings of some sort of blasphemous demagogue, they’re high in the mix and lend a genuinely crazed air to proceedings.
Dysangelium’s songwriting is concise and focussed – the aforementioned opener blazes forward on trails of aggression but the standout for me is the second track ‘Obelisk of the Sevencrowned Sun’ which delivers warped, scything riffage of the most discordant kind before slowing to an Ondskapt-esque crepuscular crawl bedecked in mournful lead guitar. Closer ‘Chaomega’ meanwhile delivers further high-pitched discordance to unsettling effect, the underlying percussion blasts and sense of aggression never wavering for a moment.
A lot of promise on this demo then and it’s a good sign for the band indeed that a label of renowned taste like WTC is getting involved with them at a relatively stage. Their confidence should not be misplaced – ‘Leviaxxis’ is an excellent demo that balances savagery, precision and atmosphere with real skill and a full-length is eagerly awaited.
(8.5/10 Frank Allain)
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