Plying their trade consistently since 2010 with a prolific run of albums and EPs, Ævangelist have long experimented with the boundaries of what constitutes death metal. Indeed, a quick glance at the list of record labels releasing their compositions provides sage understanding of their unconventional nature.

Depending on who you consult, this incarnation of Ævangelist is either a new manifestation of the former duo, or a continuation of the original in which one half of the team has not partaken since 2018, due to their former partner being accused of heinous crimes. As the accusations were never followed up or charges made, it’s difficult to know what to believe. Even the self-appointed gatekeepers of “der metahls” over at Encyclopaedia Metallum are sitting on the fence by curating two separate pages for the band, so I guess you’ll have to follow your own moral compass and make your own mind up on that one.

“Perdition Ekstasis Meta”, despite adopting the same daft album naming convention (“pick three random words!”) as Dimmu Borgir, has little else in common with those bombastic symphonic chaps. Rather, Ævangelist are peddling the similar uninviting blackened industrial soundscapes favoured by former labelmates Blut Aus Nord, interspersed with smatterings of the suffocating auditory panoramas oft concocted by the UKs own enigmatic Abyssal.

“The Antinomian“ opens with a sample of an interaction between android and creator from that odd recent entry to the Alien film series, “Prometheus”. This sets the tone for the chaos and noise which follows, with themes of artificial intelligence, religious control and ultimately genocide and transmutation.

Dissonant guitars saw away alongside haunting piano melodies on “Plague Blood Redemption”, whilst My Dying Bride’s Aaron Stainthorpe provides a spoken word narrative over a recurrent doomy industrial riff on “The Sword and The Crystal”, lending weight to the cosmic narrative woven throughout this concept album.

Occasional spacey hooks can be found such as that in the middle of “Wicked Flesh to Spirit Sublimate”, and the dark discotheque of “Metaphor of Ominous Silence”. On the whole though, this is not music for casual listening, and I’m still finding additional characteristics and insights across the album with each subsequent spin. A solid body of work worthy of further exploration.

(7/10 Doogz)

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https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/perdition-ekstasis-meta