(Season Of Mist) Total Time: 38:13
The Legendary extreme Greek metal band is here!!!!!
SEPTICFLESH, the gothic-influenced death metal band with the unique dark and macabre synth atmosphere have returned! Formed in 1990, they released their first Mini Lp “Temple of the Lost Race” in December 1991. In 1994 SEPTICFLESH set off with their first full length album “Mystic Places Of Dawn” and continued their progress with the monumental “Esoptron” in 1995, the atmospheric “Ophidian Wheel”, the theatrical “A Fallen Temple”, the industrial “Revolution DNA”, to take a (fortunately) short break after the brutal-industrial “Sumerian Daemons”. After nearly 14 years as a band, the group split up in October 2003. But I think everyone among their fans never believed that this would last forever. And our wishes were granted. On February 19, 2007, SEPTICFLESH announced their reunion for Greece's Metal Healing Festival, and in April 2007 a seventh full length CD under French record label Season Of Mist was starting to be created. SEPTICFLESH finalized the recordings of the new album in Studio Fredman in Sweden.
After all those years in music business SEPTICFLESH developed their own vein, concocting a music style that combines hyper-fast, technical-melodic death, gothic and industrial metal, which is the recipe for their success in the extreme metal scene. Their new album named “Communion” features a full orchestra and choir made of 80 musicians and 32 singers leaded by Chris Antoniou that is responsible for the arrangements. All the above mentioned elements of SEPTICFLESH's unique style are also obvious in this album and we are glad to realize that this band has gone with a swing and developed their amazing talent through the years passed when they were absent. "Communion" is a great album, maybe the best of SEPTICFLESH 'till now... - it consists of 9 tracks that last 38 min, too brief, if you think how much we've been waiting for this release!!! But I feel content since it's full of fine-crafted mature masterpieces, equivalent (and perhaps better) to their former works.
Setting off with "Lovecraft's Death" SEPTICFLESH introduce us in their own dark dimension, through an atmospheric intro accompanied by good old SEPTICFLESH macabre melodies, following fast-paced drums and a few guitar riffs. Despite the brutality defining the whole song, the listener can detect a harmonic coherence of rhythmic drum playing and synths.
"Annubis", next in the row, may be the peak of this album, exciting all your senses, being introduced with a slow and melodic accent, continuing with some sharpened riffs and brutal vox to peak with powerful (I would also say "wild") drums and clear vox shouting "Annubis...". In general, excepting that amazing drum performance, this song maintains a mid-tempo attitude.
What's coming next is "Communion", the title track that leaves no time to relax. Aggressive from the beginning, with operatic female vocals, followed by Seth's brutality and fast-paced drums, makes you want to start headbanging right NOW! The whole song consists of changes from melodic to rhythmic parts and backwards, while somewhere before it comes to an end, a sudden pause of slow melodies appears, accompanied by stringed instruments and whispers, to revert to the main style of the song and close as suddenly as it started.
"Babel's Gate" is a quite weird track, more experimental than the rest, oscillating between death and dark-atmospheric metal elements. It has also a sharp and sneak intro, which is interrupted by atmospheric spots and goes on like that until the end. After the second minute it takes a break with a melodic guitar solo which gives its place to an aggressively peaking finale, expressed with a peevish howl.
"We The Gods", begins with powerful drums and sharpened riffs, and along with Seth's voice, we enter total chaos!!! As almost every song of this album, macabre melodies and wild rhythms succeed one another. It concludes with a dark pause of all earthly elements, which leads us deeper into this sublimity of technicality and feelings, accompanied by arcane female vocals and whispers.
Sixth in line comes "Sunlight Moonlight", a quite melodic track, entering with the so well-known SEPTICFLESH's riffs and as it couldn't be missing from this song too, an alternation of rhythms and melodies, of clear and brutal vocals is also here taking place.
"Persepolis" is a difficult case! The second nominated peak of this, so brief, but at the same time so great album. "Persepolis" is powerful, impressive, monumental, noble, arcane, theatrical...It's a masterpiece of its kind! All of the great abilities of this band are in this 6-minute track! The riffs, the drums, the voice, the soul of the band, the experience and inspiration of these musicians!!! Everything condensed in here! It begins with an intensive and SEPTICFLESHish intro, brutal vox are entering slowly, while the melody is being maintained in the background. It entertains a vamp atmosphere, as it's slower and deeper than the other songs, it leads us in dark and mysterious paths, surprising us with the use of greek lyrics (somewhere in the middle), that make the atmosphere more mystical accompanied by draggy melodies, and concluding with aggressiveness!
Next comes "Sungreal", which after all this passion comes a little bit lighter than the rest of the album, except from some powerful drums and the brutal vox of Seth, which don't actually ruin the melody of the whole track. Here we have an alternation of clear and brutal vocals and a sharp tempo married with the unique melody of SEPTICFLESH!
And last, but not least, "Narcissus", which is the end of this bright beginning of SEPTICFLESH, called "Communion", it enters with an atmospheric melody and continues in a magical way through Seth's voice abilities and as it couldn't be otherwise, their personal style is also here as visible as it could be! In general, "Narcissus" is a mainly melodic track, without losing any of his aggressiveness!!!!
So guys, horns up and go out on March 17th and buy it!!!!
