Writhes in the Murk

I began listening to Aevangelist about a year ago after a recommendation to give the band a spin after listening to Abyssal's Novit album. My first experience was with Aevangelist's debut: De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumulis. The incredible atmosphere and mind bending listening experience that this band manages to create is unparalleled in the "horror/black/death" category..or whatever they fall under. "Omen ex Simulacra" followed suit by creating an immense and utterly mesmerizing album that must be listened to in it's entirety to begin to appreciate.

"Writhes In The Murk" begins to pull you into the murk of the abyss with the opener "Hosanna". The song seemingly begins at first listen in the middle of a riff as the opening drums are playing away as the song starts. The drums are reminiscent of the drum breakdown at the middle of the "Masticatione" album with the chiming groove. Blast beats abound here and the album has a much more "death metal" feel throughout the first tracks. The listener is given a moments respite and a look at a slightly different sounding Aevangelist on the 4th track "Disquiet". Electronic sounding drums are featured at the beginning, and the song has a much different sound than the rest of the album. "Disquiet" serves not only as a moment's respite from the plummeting beginning, it also serves as a marker for a slight shift in sound for the rest of the album. This is a different, more mature Aevangelist than experienced in the past. By the time we arrive to the ending and title track, saxophones and somewhat acoustic sounding elements have been experienced. This does not detract from the overall ferocity and haunting atmosphere of the band at all, rather it adds depth and less understanding of what Aevangelist can truly create on an album.

Writhes In The Murk is an entirely different album than previous offerings. The tracks can almost stand on their own and make sense as structured songs, rather than relying on the listener to listen to the entire album with each listen to understand the meaning of the song. That being said, Aevangelist somehow manages to make 8 seemingly discordant tracks work beautifully together and truly create an extremely cohesive album when taken in one sitting. The seemingly abrupt beginning makes perfect sense when realized that it loops the ending back around for continued listening.The inclusion of the saxophone only serves to add to the depth of this bands haunting arsenal. I greatly admire each of their albums and how the band continues to evolve and change. The songs are becoming more complex in their own right and continue pull any listener down to writhe in their murk. Excellent album and hope I can experience the new oblivion gospel live next year when the tour begins.