ALBUM REVIEW: A Black Death Incense – Seraph in Travail
It’s always good to set a high bar on studio releases, but to keep pushing it higher isn’t easy. Symphonic death-metallers SERAPH IN TRAVAIL burst onto the extreme metal scene with Bring Forth Death in 2015 and improved on it four years later with Lest They Feed Upon Your Soul. Such was the potency of the material, they decided to take a break from live performances, keep their creative momentum going and write another record, aiming to outdo themselves again. Said record sees the light of day as an independent, self-release; A Black Death Incense, the band’s third full-length.
With every song segueing into the next, this is a record that demands your full attention and an uninterrupted experience; it’s also an indication from the band that, although the songs may be excellently individually, they are at their most potent collectively. Both are true – the album is forty-seven minutes of chugging riffs, gothic overtones, pummelling drums and bombastic riffs that throws the best of DIMMU BORGIR, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and early OPETH into a massive cauldron, lets it simmer for six hours and then ladles out eight portions for aural consumption. It’s an extreme metal feast with plenty of twists and turns, spearheaded by Jon Sutherman‘s impressive ability to produce guttural vocals from the depths of hell itself and sonorous cleans straight out of the Tobias Forge scrapbook.
As for the songs themselves, Fixed and Dilated opens proceedings with a perfect example of Sutherland‘s dexterity, whilst the opening synths immediately set the tone that this will be bombastic and sinister in equal measure. The best song on the album is arguably When They Crown You Queen, a full-on assault that is very much one to throw the ‘metal claw’ to, but also one for admiring and experiencing, not headbanging; there’s also some great guitar work from Joe Bonner and Dan Shegogue involved.
Dead Scream Kill showcases the biggest influence from DIMMU BORGIR – at just over four minutes, it’s also the shortest track which makes it far punchier than a lot of the album. For the Wrath of Dying Days, by contrast, is a little more expansive and the strings that start the track continue to underpin as it progresses, bringing out a film soundtrack vibe that has just the right amount of cheese to enhance it and not derail the momentum. Closing track Across Bloody Waters, meanwhile, steps more into melodic death metal territory and closer to the vein of AMON AMARTH than anything else, which is a slight curveball but nothing major. Perhaps the weakest track is Haemorrhagic Hues – there’s nothing particularly wrong with it, but it fades a little into the background, which isn’t what you want black metal to do; it needs to be bleak and cold, never feeling safe, which this track does.
Extreme metal is already having a storming 2021 and, whilst SERAPH IN TRAVAIL have delivered their own personal best in terms of output, it’s not going to trouble some of the other releases that will come this year for End of Year positions. However, A Black Death Incense sparkles more than it stutters, and is well worth the time of anyone with an ear for combining strings and synths with Satan.
Rating: 7/10
A Black Death Incense is out now via self release.
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