Eternity of Shaog

Just when I thought I had heard more than enough deranged black metal acts from France to last me one hundred life-times, along comes this mysterious solo blackened death metal act Esoctrilihum, helmed by one Asthâghul, who sweeps his fellow black / death metal citoyens into the dust with his monumentally crushing and maddeningly complex and dense music that takes in folk and psychedelic prog-rock influences. "Eternity of Shaog" is Esoctrilihum's fifth album in four years - this act arose in 2017 - and has a theme of demonic possession and psychic transmutation: the omnipotent vampiric god Shaog, residing alone in a universe parallel to ours and imprisoned in a cage for crimes innumerable and unspeakable, as depicted on the album's front cover, comes to possess unsuspecting travellers who invade his cosmic realm through dreams or similar unconscious states. The influence of H P Lovecraft's short stories and novellas based around the Cthulhu mythology is strong.

Every track is an opportunity for Asthâghul to steamroll innocent listeners into Shaog's hell with a barrage of insane machine jackhammer percussion (mercifully muted), layers of grinding acid-edged guitars and a mix of synths, piano, violin and kantele (Finnish zither), all topped by monstrous gnashing vocals from an oesophagus where rocks are continually being crushed and ground down and mixed with particularly corrosive stomach acid. The surrounding atmosphere is dark and cold, and highlights the music's oppressive and demented nature. For all its sonic textural complexity, the music is actually very well crafted and the songs show much meticulous care and thoughtful attention. Every tone, every effect, every layer of sound adds another level of depth and nuance to the insane existence of Shaog and the universe in which the demon dwells. Listeners can't help but be drawn into this mad, soul-crushing world; the music is incredibly immersive, demanding every iota of attention to its many levels of rhythm, riff loops, melody and ambience. Amazing to think that the concept behind the album, the songwriting, the eclectic choice of instruments played and the performances, arrangements and recording are all the work of one mysterious musician.

The album can be quite an endurance test the first time through but repeated hearings reveal distinct songs, some of which (the last track especially) even have pop-friendly melodies under the stomping machine rhythms, headache-inducing percussion and general deranged attitude. The gravel-crunching vocals can be cartoonish at times and it is a wonder that there are no other voices within Shaog's mad and thunderous realm. The acoustic instruments used provide interesting and clear-toned sonic contrasts with the rest of the music and themselves are also a highly idiosyncratic choice that helps to set the album apart from other works with similar themes of alienation, madness, demonic possession and the Lovecraftian ethos and what it embodies about the nature of evil in a universe indifferent to notions of good and bad.

This is a rich and intense work, absolutely bat-shit insane and stuffed full of the most thunderously powerful and frightening riffs, relentless machine percussion and the most gargly guttural vocals generated outside a full fish tank. All tracks (most of which are portals into Shaog's realm) are good but the one song that stands out as the most representative of a deranged collection is "Aylowenn Aela (3rd Passage: The Undying Citadel)" for its weird and twisting Middle Eastern-sounding violin melodies. In a year of French BM Golden Age brilliance, this album shines as one of the brightest highlights.

Esoctrilihum is one of those obscure solo-projects where it is hard to find any information. We even don´t know when it was created, though the debut album was released only in 2017, so we can assume that it is a rather new project. Anyway, these last three years have been more than enough for this interesting solo project, created by Asthâghul, to release the impressive amount of five albums. Some may think that this amount isn´t that outstanding speaking about a one man band, especially if we take into account that the musician behind this project, seems to be sorely focused on this band, but Esoctrilihum’s has nothing to do with those simplistic and quite repetitive black metal projects. Moreover, I can safely say that this project´s music has a respectable amount of complexity and hours of work as the songs are long, varied and contain full of different details. In the debut album entitled ‘Mystic Echo from a Funeral Dimension’, Esoctrilihum played an occult black metal with strong atmospheric influences, where the compositions were convoluted and demanding. I personally enjoyed that album quite a lot and I tried to follow his next works. The subsequent albums showed a more experimental and even more complex side of this project, though this interest to experiment was already present in its first release. At any rate, the following works sounded more and more bizarre at times. Because of this and though I always respected Asthâghul`s very personal musical vision, I found the following albums as quite difficult works to enjoy.

When I read that Esoctrilihum was back with a new album entitled ‘Eternity of Shaog’, I was obviously curious to see what this new project could offer this time. As expected, this band´s music is not the easiest one to be digested and requires some adequate listenings to be fully understood. In any case, ‘Eternity of Shaog’ shows an interesting mixture of this already trademark experimentation and bizarre instinct, with some atmospheric and even epic touches, which irremediably remind me the debut album. For example, the second track entitled "Exh-Enî Söph (1st Passage: Exiled from Sanity)", successfully mixes those guitar riffs, which have a slight tendency to be experimental and the bizarre vocals, with some majestic keys and acoustic guitars. The mastermind manages to do it in a way, that it lets the song sounds majestic, yet unique in its nature. As it has been traditional with Esoctrilihum, the song is rich and varied in its structure, it continuously changes its pace and textures as it progresses during its almost nine minutes length. The subsequent track "Thritônh (2nd Passage: The Colour of Death)", shows a more aggressive face of the project and also a more prominent experimentation. It includes some intricated riffs and again the acoustic-esque guitars, which this time sound more experimental and tenebrous. As an addition, it includes a violin, a classic instrument that in Asthâghul’s hands even increases this feeling of experimentation and chaotic outlandishness. What I particularly found interesting in these tracks, and in general in the whole album listening experience, is how Esoctrilihum combines the complexity and extravagance with the atmospheric and even beauteous melodies, without breaking this basic nexus which every composition should have. As I already mentioned, Asthâghul integrates in a very interesting way the keys and the classic instruments like the piano or the violin, with the former one giving the stronger atmospheric touch, and the classic one playing in a more experimental way. The interesting use of these instruments fits perfectly well with the occult and chaotic spirit of Escotrilihum’s songs. Another highlight of the album is the track "Namhera (7th Passage: Blasphemy of Ephereàs)", with a super powerful pace and excellent guitars. But the strongest aspects of this song are the vocals performance and the key arrangements. The vocals have an interesting combination of aggressive vocals and enigmatic cleans voices, which sound in the background. On the other hand, the keys are even bombastic this time, making this song be the most epic one of this album.

In conclusion, Esoctrilihum managed a particularly interesting balance between its black metal roots and its experimental and bizarre tendency, forging an album which navigates between both sides and successfully reaches an equilibrium. This is by no means an easy album and it requires patience and careful listenings in order to enjoy this weird musical proposal. If the listener can do it, the album will be a very interesting musical experience for the most demanding fans of this occult and extreme form of metal.

Originally written for "www.thepitofthedamned.blogspot.com."

No descent but vitreous, crystalline, and unalterable imprisonment unto singular grisly netherworld holds ‘God’ immemorial, the eternal tormented Shaog Og Magthoth in solitude beyond all relativity. Embodiment of the self-destructive inner beast held within desperately struggling mankind, deemed a ‘sovereign of nothingness’, and a third angle towards all void revealed by prophesier Asthâghul, Shaog is never to emerge; Yet the hoary skull-accursing wight’s enticing haunt lasts ’til death, a demon of nightmares and flesh threshing maw who can only project himself through the weakened minds of men — He preys upon our dreams! The fifth unholy Esoctrilihum album and third supernatural daimonian force unleashed by prolific French extreme metal musician Asthâghul since 2017, ‘Eternity of Shaog’ is a lushly composed esoteric leap beyond the past, deeming all history relevant but formative by comparison. Alone, the artist’s torment guides these painterly strokes towards readily known genius, a Through the Gates of the Silver Key-esque journey where the price of an encounter with Shaog is madness, psychic gifts of pure guile, and empowerment for all deranged minds torn apart.

Appearing with this utterly ambitious solo black/death metal project seemingly out of nowhere, Asthâghul must be the product of empowered ritual and discipline as no amount of haphazard grinding can attain these grand transcendental avant-black highs without some daunting devotion. Chthonic inspiration and a richly achieving culture of black metallic creative warping year-over-year must’ve drawn into labor the first birth, (‘Mystic Echo From a Funeral Dimension‘, 2017) an inspired and formative work from the not-at-all distant past for this well-polished and prolific project. With every leap that Esoctrilihum takes from album to album there comes the inevitable shoving of past works to the background as Asthâghul achieves something exponential, self-transcendent of any assumed permanence while retaining the voice and the muscle memory of a storyteller, an intensely capable whirler of all manner of dark sorceries. When the second full-length (‘Pandaemorthium (Forbidden Formulas To Awaken The Blind Sovereigns Of Nothingness)‘, 2018) released no doubt it proved the French solo multi-instrumentalist was more ambitious and capable than previously thought. Doubly aggressive, and perhaps with a lighter editing hand, some meaningful comparisons to Ævangelist could be made early on but perhaps the closer suggestion would be ‘Scar Sighted’-era Leviathan in terms of the bidirectional, polyrhythmic, contrapuntal atmospheric blackened death metal that Esoctrilihum would quickly develop into distinction. ‘Inhüma‘ (2018) came just a few months later, an eager evolution that was perhaps rushed but all the more interesting for its lack of any serious warts. It’d been around this time that I’d remarked that Esoctrilihum is an all-or-none act, a psychotogenic-charged extreme metal fever dream that you must be one hundred percent engaged with to make any sense of, and if you lost focus during those first 3-4 albums, a profound feeling of disorientation pervades. All skin-shedding ceases beyond that point, though.

Last year the fourth full-length from the band (‘The Telluric Ashes of the Ö Vrth Immemorial Gods‘, 2019) saw a concerted effort to refine and perhaps most tightly achieve major goals in chaos-strewn, semi-dissonant black/death metal. A feat achieved through refreshingly fiery and exotic eruptions of burly n’ chaotic extremism driven by a lunging avant-black spirit. Think of that prior album as if Morbid Angel‘s ‘Heretic’ were deconstructed with Alexander Von Meilenwald levels of insight. Without downplaying the significant growth spurts of 2018 it was on that fourth album that Esoctrilihum began to embody their lore most readily while realizing the Lovecraftian theogony as a real force beyond the darkness-ensorceled mind of the Asthâghul. Touching upon what I’d consider some adjacency to earlier The Ruins of Beverast material and perhaps Tchornobog on some level, yet songs like “Thar-Voknargh” from the fourth album contain a notable hint of folkish (or folk metal) edges that add some great dynamism to the black metal centric riffing that Esoctrilihum brings. These elements have now become far, far more prevalent on ‘Eternity Of Shaog’, guiding melodies along with chamber-soaking piano, echoing kantele, and violin work that is undoubtedly a ration of golden wheat’s grinding reeds in the winds of Elysium.

Aiming for new ground that is ‘symphonic’ and mystical in its emanating aura the major breakthrough here is almost immediately obvious as melody quickly molds the eager mind towards repeatable and gorgeously memorable long-form hooks. There are eight gateways to witness passage through and ten total pieces that complete the indoctrination into the ‘Eternity of Shaog’ which asks a full hour of attention from the listener. I’d complain about that length but in context this is mercifully shortened compared to the near 80 minutes of the previous album. As the first two pieces storm in I’d initially wondered if I’d put on the right LP, snarling a couple minutes beyond a yearning lead and spaciously resonant chords from a kantele make quite clear that this is a new and exciting side of Asthâghul‘s oeuvre that expresses as a gnarl-edged epic and melodic black metal presence, having some relevance to German avant-garde black metal to some degree but likewise the French sense of direly romantic melodicism. In this sense “Orthal” and “Exh-Enî Söph (1st Passage: Exiled from Sanity)” serve as portal approached and dimension travel respectively, where first passage finds an arrangement that is not only incredibly detailed and sharply performed but an 8+ minute song that maintains it’s illustrious mystique and powerful sweeping melodic statements throughout. It is a veritable blackened cosmic whalesong to my ears and I yearn to push play every time I see this record because I want to live within the caged horrors of nothingness that it presents.

What unfolds beyond is an enriching tapestry of otherworldly textures from the blasting vacuum that kicks off “Thritônh (2nd Passage: The Colour of Death)” into an ominous celestial carnival where a shower of angled-down violin layers drag the beast to the bottom of its cage with ruthless gravitas — One of countless ‘hooks’ achieved within its nine minute expanse and surely one of the most memorable pieces on the album. I’d throw my hands up and beg mercy as the shuddering luminescence of a somber and deep-space radiation scorched soul of “Aylowenn Aela (3rd Passage: The Undying Citadel)” rumbles in, spiraling even more violin driven trills, celestial synth and staccato riffing. Beyond the intense feeling presented by the luxuriously achieved pieces the non-traditional instrumentation employed might initially recall folkish black metal but I’d say this actually leans towards avant-garde black metal on a different level, yet I can’t decide if I’d rather reference Blut Aus Nord or Nocte Obducta depending on the song in question. The bigger picture provided upon reflection envisions a true extension of Esoctrilihum‘s already kosmik reach beyond any other headspace of the past, where the artist appears remarkably adept in creation of atmospheric and melodic pieces that are entirely appropriate for rumination upon a grand celestial evil’s solitary station as they infect humanity with subconscious derangement. “Shtg (4th Passage – Frozen Soul)” provides respite with a calming piano arrangement, and as we reach for Side C the pieces begin to reach a classic Abigor level of intensity with heightened double-bass battery and less ornate aggression. “Namhera (7th Passage – Blasphemy of Ephereàs)” is perhaps the ‘pay-off’ for all of the accumulated tension of the full listen, a nigh progressive psychedelic howl into the void and an undertaking grand enough that it will undoubtedly sit well with fans of the latest Oranssi Pazuzu record. Hard as it is to avoid a full track-by-track I’ll conclude for the second layer of the finale’s apex with the melodic attack of “Eternity of Shaog (∞th Passage: Grave of Agony)”; This piece would help to bookend the experience with some emotional resonance and muscular riff flexing in summation.

The normal reaction to this hour long and intensely detailed myriad of thoughtfully arranged avant-garde black/death metal work, a melodious and brutal soul-raking experiential sojourn towards damnation, is that it is “a bit much” and yet a completely addictive listening experience. It doesn’t hurt that the vinyl double LP package, and its brilliant cover from Alan E. Brown, is an immaculate and cherishable item to begin with. I wouldn’t say the only reason I was sold on this record so quickly (within the first three listens) because I’ve been following this project since the second album and particularly loved the direction taken on ‘The Telluric Ashes of the Ö Vrth Immemorial Gods’. If anything I’d felt like this is a full step above any past work regardless of whatever provenance was available. It may alight the senses with a riotous blast of cosmic horror and an impressive dark fantasy narrative but Esoctrilihum‘s fifth album arrives with some crazed and rapidly beating heart that one cannot miss if they’ll allow such attunement and that’d make all the difference for me as a listener and a fan. ‘Eternity of Shaog’ easily elbows its way through a year packed with unforgettable extreme metal experiences by the sheer will of inspiration shining through every piece, it is well deserving of a high recommendation on my part.

Attribution: https://grizzlybutts.com/2020/05/21/esoctrilihum-eternity-of-shaog-2020-review/