ALBUM REVIEW: Fragment : Erhabenheit – Theotoxin
Vienna’s THEOTOXIN may have only formed back in 2016, but the band are fast becoming one of the more celebrated extreme metal acts in Austria. Producing a heady and eclectic blend of blackened death metal, the band’s first two records, Atramentvm and Consilivm, have quickly established the band as a force to be reckoned with, gaining them acclaim not just within the Austrian underground, but internationally as well. The band’s latest, third album, Fragment : Erhabenheit, combines the very best elements of the previous two albums and throws in a sharper, tighter production, resulting in what is arguably THEOTOXIN‘s best output to date.
Golden Tomb, with its bombastic sound built around huge chords, intricate drumming and arid, shrill vocals, proves to be an excellent start to the record, making a huge statement right out of the gate. Coupling a polished production with acerbic, frenetic black metal works extremely well, making for a dark and unflinching offering. Obscure Divinations carries forward the more chaotic side of THEOTOXIN‘s sound, with the music immediately diving headlong into a ferocious and bestial whirlwind of grating guitar hooks, equally jarring vocal deliveries and energetic, rabid drums, all of which gives this song an unpredictable, claustrophobic sound with just the right amount of catchy riffs thrown into the mix to keep the music engrossing. Prayer pulls the music back towards a more grandiose and epic bent, with a vaster, more melody focused guitars marking a noticeable shift in the tone and style of this record. The vocals, likewise, begin to make use of sonorous chants and cleaner moments, giving this song a hypnotic, beguiling edge that separates it from the two preceding tracks, without fully sacrificing the more visceral side of the music completely.
Through Hundreds of Years brings together the best elements of the previous two tracks, blending the primal aggression of Obscure Divinations with the more sublime, soaring aspects that made Prayer so memorable. This makes for a well balanced and diverse piece of music with some brilliant, imaginative guitar work and magnificently animated vocals, which both make for a lively and atmospheric feel throughout. Philosopher, a decidedly shorter and punchier affair, ultimately serves as the album’s most visceral and savage track, with the guitars, drums and bass setting a monstrous, blistering pace that creates a cacophonous wall of noise, which the booming, authoritative vocals carve through, adding a demented, acidic quality to the rest of the music and making everything feel all the more fierce, making this one of the album’s best, as well as most unhinged, number.
Two Ancient Spirits, with its haunting, brooding sound and crawling tempo, once again plays with the musical formula, providing yet another change of pace towards a dirtier guitar sound and an atmospheric, ambient undercurrent that counterpoints the rawer side of this songs sound perfectly, with this particular song being perhaps the most ‘traditional’ black metal offering on the record. Sanatory Silence is a solid, yet unfortunately unremarkable, end to the album, which makes use of subdued guitar work, a steadier drum hook and a more spartan utilisation of the fantastic vocals, which sadly makes this song fall a little flat, meaning that this album comes to a close on a sizzle rather than a bang. This isn’t to say that it’s all bad; the vocals, when they come into play, are amazing, and the pace does pick up towards the tracks closing minutes, but it’s too little, too late.
Other than the fairly flat ending to this record, this is an amazing album from start to finish, with very little, if anything, that can be considered filler. The music, and indeed the production, does a great job of straddling the fine line between the more cacophonous side of black metal and the genres more catchy and melody focused elements to create a varied and impressive album. This album is, amongst many other things, an absolute masterclass on just how imaginative and engrossing blackened death metal can be when the genre leans ever so slightly into its more experimental side.
Rating: 8/10
Fragment : Erhabenheit is out now via AOP Records.
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