Review by Alex on November 7, 2019.

That place which held hope and purpose for humanity is no more, now burned and buried by and with the pest; this devolved species has shrunk beyond redemption and will remain without. Once at the peak and helm of scientific breakthroughs only to fall before the traps set by brainwashed spooks and false doctrines, the creature finds itself surrounded by inescapable hazards, specters and imminent death. How does one push so close to rational superiority, only to regress in accepting enfeeblement through laziness and irresponsibility. To be reborn, to evade accountability, live-out lies and look to the fucking skies; what comes crashing through the atmosphere is not the answer you were hoping for, rather the stroke of silence long overdue.

Kosmokrator is the artist behind this nihilistic portrait reflecting the doom and bloodshed he brings; thou have asked, thus it has been granted. The imaginary figure immortalized brings only perish, salvation has never held province in his house. Let it be a grim warning to the organism emerging from rape, after the tears of punishment have dried and the ashes of pity have been lost to the wind, that none take up the spoils of the desert and coronate it.

Kosmokrator welcomes the destruction and spares no breath, the sacrifices made during the "Push Towards Daath"; a chance to grasp at the precipice of knowledge, true enlightenment to be found at the base of the abyss, the most unlikely of places, yet not nearly enough acquired to steer mankind from the 'Ruins' of backward philosophies; or was it ignorance and complacency that encouraged the fateful fumble? The vision, the prophecy, destined to erupt from a cursed chasm would spill-over into reality; the Belgian black/death metal army, marches to the sounds of destruction they trumpet. Lands ravaged by a stringed scythe, cauterized by bellows abyssal, bruised by drums and bass brutish and projected clearly through a mix and master flawless to the ignis fatuus of Timo Ketola.

Chaos represented by aid of instrumental poetry, Through Ruin... Behold, ('Irreversible Pathways', 'I Am the utterance of My Name' and 'Gestorben Muss Sein' etc.) the collective of glib yet chaotic verses offering more than the average surface value black/death metal, yields some insight stemming from the chakras comprising the tree of life; put together between 2013 and 2018, Kosmokrator swamps the universe in a void of fright and peril. What a magnificent way to make your debuting full-length mark among others that have put out highlighting records in 2019, also carrying the Belgian flag proudly for black/death metal. Genuinely thespian the way Through Ruin... Behold is setup and plays, like an adventure of some significance being unraveled by music never missing a key period or moment in traversing chapters. Acceleration and deceleration implemented at critical instances to give account in dynamic differentiation and surprises thrown at the listener. One session leads to another, and another, and another, and so it carries-on without becoming bland or wearisome.

Not much more I could have asked for from a debut full length black/death metal record considering how easy it is to get brushed aside in an overpopulated genre. Your longevity relies on the ability to take risks executed in a fashion that appeals to the listener without damaging the centerpiece of your craft. To The Svmmit, then First Step Towards Supremacy to the current effort tells of a band on a mission to achieve supremacy indeed. Through Ruin... Behold is a massive concretion of black/death metal sublimity.

Rating: 9.2 out of 10