EP REVIEW: Bathed In A Black Sun – Strigoi
Formed from the ashes of VALLENFYRE – a group put together by PARADISE LOST guitarist Gregor Mackintosh to help him work through the grief of losing his father – STRIGOI is a band born from pain and despair, and which seeks to provide a soundtrack to the darkest corners of our lives. A companion piece to 2022’s brilliantly bleak Viscera album, this EP contains four unreleased songs from those recording sessions along with the the title track, which did feature on the album but is now accompanied by a new and appropriately disturbing black and white video.
Title track Bathed In A Black Sun starts things off in an unrelentingly desolate vein but in the best possible way. Stabbing, discordant guitars precede a monstrous, crawling doom riff and an ominous cacophony of drums, with Mackintosh a barking vocal powerhouse from start to finish. Second track The Grotesque takes things in a OSDM direction, the verses reminiscent of a more blackened early ENTOMBED before launching full throttle into battering, blast-beat-filled brutality as the song progresses. Drummer Guido Zima really earns his stripes here, the punk-fuelled energy in his playing shining through the thick, crusty mix while the rumbling low end of Chris Casket‘s bass complements the drumming perfectly.
Beautiful Stigmata tips a nod to NAPALM DEATH, both in style and song length (42 seconds anyone?) and the brutality of this EP doesn’t show any sign of letting up. Whereas Viscera was a creeping, grinding doom-filled record, this collection of songs showcases quicker tempos and a more brutal approach without losing the intensity of what has come before. A Spear Of Perfect Grief comes closest to showing signs of Mackintosh‘s ‘day job’ with PARADISE LOST in its intro but even this glimpse is brief, before another relentlessly heavy DISCHARGE-esque verse follows. This one does take more of a choking breath here and there, slowing down for the crushing middle-eight, where Mackintosh growls “All that remains, absence of joy / What can’t be reached, must be destroyed.”
Given the quality of Viscera, it would be easy to expect this EP to just be a bit of an add-on, the songs that were rejected from the long-player because they weren’t good enough. These songs completely subvert that expectation; they are urgent, grasping beasts that demand multiple listens. Perhaps their faster-paced, more brutal vibe wouldn’t quite have settled in with the rest of the album but that doesn’t mean they are any less powerful or affecting. As an ‘addition’ to the album, this EP shows off STRIGOI at their peak and, if anything, is just as much a triumph as Viscera itself.
Rating: 9/10
Bathed In A Black Sun is set for release on November 3rd via Season Of Mist.
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