Far Beneath the Tombs

Good stuff, the Moshquitoes have decided to sting harder again, adding a more Deathly touch to their arsenal, one that really took off with the excellent “Enter New Spheres”, a lofty thrash/death hybrid which had the mighty Death as mentors, the culmination in this trend reached with the exemplary “Behind the Mask”. Naturally, an unmitigated slump followed suit, the guys logically changing their name to Xiom for an isolated opus (“Glorious Sin”, 2011), a more melodic, somewhat lethargic, not as exciting take on the Death idea that left quite a bit to be desired.

Eight years later the band are back with their old name, determined to go way beneath the deathly tombs although style-wise this album is quite comparable to the last two. In other words, look no further than the progressive thrash/death hybrid dexterously exercised by the guys, the only flaw being the vocal duel, this grating on the nerves “screechy blacky vs. guttural deathy” juxtaposition which here is applied seemingly randomly, probably to put off the unprepared. The already braced ones, however, will have no problems whatsoever falling for the highbrow melody/technicality combination traditional for the band; even those who have somehow been seduced by the seductively calmer tunes from the Xiom album will find a temporary oasis (the title-track), before momentary bolts of thrashing madness (“Call to Extinction”, the maddening closer “Violence of Evil”) ruthlessly throw them all over the place.

Compared to the layout of “Behind the Mask”, the compositions are shorter, served without much progressive ados, but this, on the other hand, gives the guys an opportunity to indulge in tight precise technical shredders (“Born of Ashes”) that are an equally enchanting option, the dramatic pounding urgency of “Absolving the Scrawl of Babylon” adding more to the fairly entertaining diversity at play. The entangled heights of the preceding time and again offering are eventually reached on the superb “Perceptual Bindings”, impetuous vortex-like death/thrashisms with feverish hyper-active crescendos flickering in and out of existence, a number that was somehow inexplicably missing from “Symbolic”.

More of the latter provided would have been beyond awesome, but all good in the end, a more flexible recording that even comprises a fitting anti-climactic balladic etude (“Scribe of Khem”) as a defiant opposition to the generally impetuous delivery. All tricks utilized work to the band’s advantage, a big sigh of relief after the pensive musings offered on the Xiom opus, and a clear sign that the Mosquitoes… sorry, Moshquitoes are honing their stings once again, feeling comfortable in Death’s cloak, resting vigilantly in the shade of those tombs, and always ready to march beyond them if necessary in order to stand relevant and proud on the contemporary metal horizon.