‘The Fire Still Burns Within Me’ starts with some malevolent and toxic spoken word before the guitar lead enters the fray and acts as a summoning to the rest of the barbaric and toxic raw black metal with which to attack your senses. The vocals are caustic and spat out with real devastation and venom, the riffs and chords are served at breakneck speed. You are then allowed a short respite in the core of the track in order to deliver a beautiful stripped back interlude before the angst and malevolence strangles you once more. This is true raw and aggressive black metal at its greatest, enveloping you and submerging you into the nihilistic and venomous world without taking any prisoners. In and amongst all the angst is a definite melody which adds some lightness to cold bleak backbone, but this is very much overshadowed by the decadent black arts and takes some dissection to be able to discover the catchy and mesmerising light within the shade. The track finishes off where the interlude left you, with an enchanting stringed segment.
‘Devils, Death And Dark Arts’ is ferocious from the off, blistering drum work sitting alongside scorching fretwork. The vocals yet again are sinful and malicious, a little more controlled than seen on the opening track but no less powerful or lethal, only adding to the noxious and rancorous essence of the track. The whole track is measured in its construction and has more meat on the bone than its predecessor, allowing for more punctuations and power to generate a barbarous and fierce track which replicates black metal in its rawest and most aggressive state.
Carchost delivers yet another black masterclass in ‘It Befalls The Night In Doom’, battering and belligerent in all of its composition. The drums stand at the forefront and deliver a hypnotic display of measured and calculated creation, the strings inject the beauty and splendour before the pace drops slightly mid track to allow a moment of reflection before we are dragged back into the underworld and carved open to more immoral and malicious black metal.
‘All Shades Of Ferocity’ is an atmospheric instrumental piece, haunting and melancholic, evocative and prowling in its air. For me, it resembles some of the audible art that Satyricon created to sit alongside the Munch exhibition in the Norwegian museum. It is depraved and debauched yet keeping a strong aura of sophistication and depth, an atmosphere that transports you to realms far away and allows the layers of immersive and complex dexterity to simply wash over you.
‘Riddles In Devils Tongue’ drags us back into the antagonistic and hostile beauty that we all absorb and engage with in abundance. The melody is more obvious on this track and the vocals have more of a rounded edge to those that previous sacrifices have allowed us insight into, and the guitars dance around reminiscent of a cobra targeting its prey. The perfect piece to lead us into the final track on the release.
‘Hymn Of Life And Death’ is the marathon of the album, atmospheric drums, echoing and resounding, start the proceedings before majestic and soulful guitars march alongside the beats with power and precision, generating a foreboding intro which is potent and influential before the vocals are then layered on top of the whole formidable creation. The vocals unleash a maniacal scream, almost commanding the musical backbone to become more regimented and solid, allowing the vocals to become even more compelling and addictive. More melody is then mixed in and this adds even more structure to the vigorous and persuasive assembly. There is definite potency about the whole affair, beguiling and bewitching before the whole event breaks and allows an intricate, delicate and beautiful piano score to step forward and captivate us before the vindictive soul once more crashes in and turns the track back to the raw and measured chaotic essence that is so entrancing and fascinating.
This package may have only been made up of six tracks, but what a six track that is. The compendium is multifaceted and constructed of numerous layers, melodic, raw, savage, intricate, delicate, barbaric and muscular. A perfect example of malevolent and vitriolic black metal at its finest.
(9/10 Phil Pountney)
Leave a Reply