This is the debut album from the Turkish quintet comprising of Burak Tavus and Hamit Özmen on guitars, Lucy Ferra on vocals, Mettehan Özbek on bass and Serdar Karahasanoğlu on drums. And sadly that’s about as much info as can find on the band itself, as even the promo doc is a little sparse. However, we’ll let the music do the talking here, as that’s what really counts at the end of the day.
The 7-song album opens with “Pervert Divine Doctrine”, where you’re immediately engulfed in a wall of sound with the full guitars, deep bass, fast drums, and the low growls filled with anger, while somehow still managing to highlight the underlying melody that the lead guitar emphasises during its breaks.
“Recm in the Ungodly Lands” is a little slower, but makes up for it in heaviness and melody, with a beautiful bassline that you can’t help but follow into the frantic blast break before everything returns to the funereal pace with its long, low growls.
Alternating between fairly rapid and extremely slow, “Ruins of Empire” allows the drumming to dictate the feel of the pace, as the guitars themselves never really need to increase the speed of their riffing, as their steady churn works well no matter how fast the drums are.
The longest song on the album, “Curtain of Night” progresses from slow and doomy to a mid-paced tempo with a steady kick-drum providing the cadence for the vocals to follow as the guitars peak and trough through quick tremolos and long sustains.
On “Beyond The Forgotten of the Otherside” there are hints of extreme blasting to complement the mellower bridges, but the guitars and vocals maintain slow but aggressive plod giving the song a touch of Bolt Thrower sensibilities.
The acerbic vocals on “Venomous Saints” are delivered a fury that matches the flurry of drums under them, but it’s the lead break that stands out as rather too pretty for the nastiness the song is trying to convey.
The album ends with their liveliest song, “Forsaken Home of the Dead” which also feels like the most upbeat track too, with the tremolo melody running alongside the main guitar riff as the roaring vocals are spat out at speed.
It’s always nice to hear new bands from places that aren’t renowned for their metal to remind you that good music has no boundaries.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
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