Symmetry of Our Plagued Existence

Heavy and lethal. Slow and aggressive. This is the description of an hour of doom and death metal mixed together. These melodic atmospheres are almost gothic, which then all of a sudden become brutal, damned, and torn apart thanks to the ability of a vocalist who is capable of a good growl, but also clean singing characterized by a voice that I definitely find pleasant in its melancholic and sad essence.

They are from Malta and formed about 20 years ago, but only now have they managed to sign a record deal. A true cavalry, almost in line with the moniker itself. They are definitely not the innovation, but their sound is authentic, powerful, and extremely enjoyable with those riffs as slow as eternity and aggressive like death. The album is made up of five tracks with imposing lengths (often longer than 10 minutes), but are always involving and never boring or repetitive.

Deadly and oriented to an extreme sound, “Chapter XIII” is a portal leading to a monumental exhibition of obscure concepts that are slow and hypnotic. Beautiful “Tree of Iniquity” has attractive riffs crossed with good melodies. Overwhelming and widely doom tainted with sludge is the extremely slow “The Art of Despair”. Also beautiful is “The Glorious Deceit”, opening with clean and melodic singing, a clear tribute to Candlemass, later turning into a very melodic and totally decadent death/doom.

This is an album I really like, though it doesn’t feature any really new ideas to the scene. It's an album irresistible for the fans of the genre and rewarding for the band for so much patience, faith, and persistence. Their sound is undoubtedly extremely efficient, perfect for the live scene and definitely worth the deal with a label such as Cyclone Empire. They deserve the opportunity to get known and offered a sequel to this interesting debut.

(Luca Zakk) Voto: 7/10
POSTED ON METALHEAD.IT
http://www.metalhead.it/?p=20226