Formed over thirty years ago and with ten albums under their belt, the eleventh is to be released on Nuclear Blast five years since the last record. The Filmharmonic Orchestra of Prague is back, but for the first time Psychon is also included rather than just being the live guitarist owing to Sotiris Anunnaki V’s other commitments that prevent him from always touring with the band. This doesn’t stop him from still playing guitar and the 12 string on the album, along with his obligatory clean vocals to go with Seth Siro Anton’s roar while he plays the bass. While his brother Christos Antoniou, who not only plays the guitar, also composed all the music for the orchestra. Reprising his role as drummer of the last 8 years is Kerim “Krimh” Lechner to complete the line-up.

We begin our journey with “The Collector”, where a Middle Eastern instrument gently coax the orchestra into full swing as the guitars plunge in and a guttural roar takes over, before slowing to give the song a steady pace where the frantic kick drum speed appears even faster owing to everything else being reigned in.

They released an impressive video for “Hierophant” in March, so I guess it’s the song I’m most familiar with on the album having listened to it several times before receiving the album. It contains all the elements you’d expect from SepticFlesh, the heady orchestral pieces combined with heavy guitars and powerful drumming while the death growls flow effortlessly into the spoken and choral arrangements as the trumpets blast out their haunting taunts.

The cinematic soundscape accompanying the guitars and drums of “Self Eater” allow the children’s choir to come in without sounding out of place in the same way the deep roars that immediately follow sound exactly as they should.

The middle eastern sounding stringed instrument opens “Neuromancer”, but it’s when the band comes in swinging that the song really gets going. The perfect pairing of Seth and Sotiris’s vocals give the song the spark required to make it one of the standout tracks on the album.

The stop-start attack of “Coming Storm” works brilliantly to convey the menace in much the same way the brass adds an impending sense of foreboding that the roaring vocals wouldn’t be able to do on their own.

The eerie children’s choral vocal give “A Desert Throne” a haunting intro before the orchestra infuse the song with a beautiful melody that the guitars play along to, and the growls add the harsh element the song requires.

Title track “Modern Primitives” may appear to have the least fanfare added, but that’s probably because the sound of the band in full swing doesn’t require more than subtle embellishments to enhance the song during its more subdued movements.

“Psychohistory” plunges immediately in with a deep rumble of drums and guitars, but it’s when the low roars come it that the higher strings make their presence felt by adding an airiness to the melody that the aggressive electric instruments are intentionally drowning out.

The album ends on a high note with “A Dreadful Muse”, where the heaviness is tempered with harmonious guitars and orchestration to add to the cinematic feel of the song before it gently fades out in a flurry of instruments.

As to be expected, I thoroughly enjoyed the album and Seth’s cover art is as spectacular as always.

(8/10 Marco Gaminara)

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https://septicflesh.bandcamp.com/album/modern-primitive