Tyranni

Avaslut are back with their second album of black metal devastation.

An onslaught of pounding drums and savage guitar riffs bring us into a brutal barrage of black metal with ensuing atmospherics and howled vocals, immediately off to a captivating start. The ice cold melodics over the traditionally gruesome rhythm sections gives a modern yet still true feeling of piercing extremity with a tight production that isn’t overzealous but certainly is not raw, delivering a meaty sound with plenty of clarity. The groove of this album is certainly a massive step up for the band, as is the clearly massive amount of songwriting and compositional foresight that went into making this album a dominating and structurally impenetrable slab of decimating musicianship

The only draw-back is some slightly predictable bridges that feel like mid-era Behemoth in a couple of tracks, however this is a tiny detail among so many flawlessly astounding musical ideas that take you on a journey into a more concise but intricately thought out record. There is an unwaveringly energetic and aggressive performance that retains some atmospheric touches while keeping that pummelling ferocity of the band in the foreground at all times. This ravaging blizzard of Swedish black metal obliteration is one that I feel will appeal to almost any black metal fans who enjoy some tighter production that in no way detracts from the astounding prowess of the record itself, conjuring up a sonic warfare suited to more or less any extreme metal fans taste.

While I do not think there is much we have never heard before, everything on this album is done with precision, hatred and most importantly passion, for which I think there is an abundantly clear amount. The record keeps up a certain momentum but there is definitely sonic diversity with some of the crushing riffs have a melancholy tinge to them, the third track being a perfect example which is reminiscent to Gaahl era Gorgoroth. Aside from black metal we are also given plenty of death and thrash tinged sections that keep things exciting while never straying far from the path of pure black metal fire.

This is beyond worthwhile and an album I think will be universally appealing in the underground scene and potentially a much larger audience (especially the Belphegor fans) too due to the accessible production value. Fantastic material and a monstrous step up for Avslut.

Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com