The Golden Age of black metal is upon us. There’s been a flood of quality releases coming in recently and now Asphagor is unleashing its third album, called “The Cleansing”. Announced by the record label as “one of the most intelligent and impressive black metal releases of 2018”, I thought the statement was just a boast, but I was dead wrong in that assumption. It’s an impressive release indeed, by which Asphagor establishes itself as a band to be taken seriously in terms of progressive black metal.
“The Cleansing” starts solidly enough with “The Delphic Throne” and “Sun Devourer”, but when you think that there is nothing overly special going on here, Asphagor slaps you in the face with “The Solipsist”, driven by fantastic guitar work and guest vocals of Morean (Dark Fortress). Highlight of the album is “(In The) Sea Of Empty Shells”, which is simply a masterpiece of progressive black metal, created by highly talented musicians. The level of the compositions is astonishing and Asphagor manages to be versatile without losing focus. You can even hear choirs in “Aurora Nocturna” (hello Dimmu Borgir), while the album closes off with the apocalyptic title track, extreme progressive metal with spoken word vocals and a fantastic build-up.
Topped off by a masterful production done by Patrick W. Engel (Temple of Disharmony) studio, “The Cleansing” is a milestone release in modern sounding and intelligent black metal. If you think that black metal should be lo-fi and poorly executed with the lyrical intelligence of the average toddler, this is not for you, but if you are into extreme metal of the highest quality, you should let Asphagor cleanse your soul. You will not regret it.
(9/10 Lykle Thijssen)
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