ALBUM REVIEW: Psychic Death – The Shattering Of Perceptions – Acherontas
Since their formation back in 2007, ACHERONTAS have quickly risen to the forefront of Greece’s amazing black metal scene. The bands brilliant, varied brand of black metal is tinged with a dark, ritualistic feel that mirrors the occult and mystical themes with their lyrics. Over the course of the last five years, the band have been particularly prolific, producing some of their most impressive records to date. Their latest album, Psychic Death – The Shattering of Perceptions, is another great outing, taking ACHERONTAS‘ music into slightly more experimental and atmospheric territory.
Paradigms of Nyx starts the album with a vicious offering peppered with soaring melodic hooks and harsh vocals punctuating the cacophony. Pummelling drums and jarring rhythms make for a dense, impenetrable sound, which serves to make this song intense and grating right from the outset. Κiss the Blood makes use of these razor sharp rhythms and thunderous drumming, but they take a much more noticeable backseat to the vocals and leads, which provide a palpable, atmospheric feel to this song, with the vocals in particular shifting between spoken word sections and bellicose howls. The Brazen Experimentalist is a more visceral offering, with ACHERONTAS incorporating more chaotic sections. Feral vocals and great, disjointed riffs give a rabid sound throughout. The epic side of the band’s sound that was dominant in the previous track is still there, but only starts to appear towards the songs end, allowing the bulk of this song to be heavier and more focused.
Psychic Death – The Shattering of Perceptions‘s title track blends cleaner guitars and huge vocals to create a hazy, hypnotic track that works really well. It’s got a cavernous sound that gives everything a vast sound, with lots of brilliant guitar harmonies giving this a heavy metal undercurrent that elevates this song above the three that preceded it. Coiled Splendor has an ambient, ritualistic feel to it, with great, mid-paced drums and coarse flourishes giving this song a fiercer, but more immersive sound that is dripping with atmosphere. It’s the song with the most traditional black metal sound, with more acerbic vocals and a rawer guitar sound, and despite being the longest song on the record, it manages to be one of its best. The Offering of Hemlock, a relatively short affair by this albums standards, again makes use of a cleaner, polished sound, which gives this a sublime, haunting quality that sounds fantastic. It gradually morphs into dense, fierce black metal, with venom-soaked vocals and a fast, primal guitar sound that provides an excellent contrast with this songs opening moments.
Sermons of the Psyche proves to be Psychic Death – The Shattering of Perceptions‘ most intense offering, with caustic guitars, punishing drums and acerbic vocals all giving this a much a tighter, aggressive sound. It’s one of the records better songs, and it’s certainly the heaviest on offer. Μαγεια των καθρεφτων (Magick of Mirrors) has a far bleaker, more ethereal sound, which helps to give this song a great, climactic feel. Everything is more subdued, from the minimalist drum patterns and guitar playing, to the spoken word aspect of the vocals, giving this song an more epic sound than the ones that preceded it. It’s a great, powerful way to bring this album to a close, and ends the record on an incredibly high note.
It’s clear that ACHERONTAS are beginning to expand and develop their sound beyond their established formula, with the compositions being longer, and the music being noticeably more varied. Each of these eight songs is a monolithic and powerful affair in its own right, and as a cohesive whole, this proves to be an incredibly immersive record. This is yet another fantastic offering from a band that are clearly at their creative peak, and, if this is anything to go by, not running out of ideas any time soon.
Rating: 8/10
Psychic Death – The Shattering Of Perceptions is out now via Agonia Records.
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