‘Excommunica’ is captivating and mesmerising from the outset, it is layered and complex and demands your full attention to absorb and soak up every beat and percussion strike. The band cite that it has taken them 5 years to build and construct this package and this is clear in the mature and sophisticated make up and back bone on which the six tracks sit proudly upon.
‘Abiura’ is a perfect opener and progresses from the opening crashes, through tribal beating and swooping winds before orchestration steps to the forefront and creates the platform for menacing and dominant spoken word from guest vocalist Varna Marga which leads us effortlessly into track two, ‘Suffocate In Oxygen’.
‘Suffocate In Oxygen’ is simply crunching and relentless. It is studded and bolstered with the vocal talents of guests Michelle Spallieri and Chainerdog who inject their own brand and style perfectly to the mix whilst celestial vocals are added by Lucifero Fieri to create an even greater depth and roundness to the track. The soul of the track is deep and complex, vocal styles switch throughout, making way for the four and six strings to pummel and pound their way through the course of the song. The percussion and skins are heavy and aggressive, delivering menace and aggression without extraordinarily little respite.
‘Source Of Miracles’ sees even more guests joining the fray, Spallieri lends his lungs to the vocal demands and Matteo Gresele carves open the track with a delicate and technical guitar solo. Azghals bass is yet again commanding, and these sit prominent alongside the drum work of HHG. ‘Source Of Miracles’ is the rawest track on the album, and it seems to warp and twist off at varying degrees and tangents. There are ‘folk’ undertones which carry the track along in parts and the whole body of the song is marathonic in its approach, being beaten in the duration stakes only by the closing track ‘The Elohim’s Mark’.
‘Praelatorum Pedophilia’ sees Spallieri inject his trademark vocals again and this seems to encourage and motivate the instrument fractions to create a masterpiece of a track. It is swathing and majestic whilst remaining raw and brutal. To the ear, there is slightly more melody and punch about the track, the melodic core is swathing and elegant from the off. Segmented guitar work creates interest, and the vocals seem to spit out each word with more energy and conviction. There is malice and venom throughout with a blackness which was previously lacking from the track’s predecessors.
Penultimate track, ‘Apocalypse 20.7-8-9′, utilises more spoken word and orchestration to give the track a more futuristic feel. There are still crunching and powerful drumbeats to back it up and the introduction of frenetic kick drum work. Again, a melody is carved into the trunk of the track with a full-blown riot happening all around it. Vicious vocals lay waste to everything in their path and there is a definite air of vile and raw black arts to this one,
The whole event signs off with ‘The Elohim’s Mark,’ a moody and atmospheric affair. All the band’s skills and talents are exhibited in this track. The vocals are slightly cleaner than previously seen from Chainerdog and the six strings are precision personified. There is a rasping to the vocals which highlights the cleanliness of the vocal output and throws a spotlight on the refinement of the lungs and larynx, working in unison to generate an articulate deliverance of passion and poison. This is the complete package of a track, a whole cacophony of styles and elements which all work together to bring in one well rounded unit to the table
Polished, black metal with a graceful tinge to the proceedings. If you enjoy your black metal with less primal instinct about it then hunt this down and you will not be disappointed.
(8/10 Phil Pountney)
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