Review by Nekrist on July 8, 2024.

This is one of the reviews that I was most looking forward to doing this year. I wanted to wait until I had the courage and patience to be able to give my most meticulous and objective opinion on the new work by the contemporary black metal band named after the Greek night Goddess “Akhlys”. One of the most elite extreme metal manifestations in modern times, little by little they gained the respect and unconditional support of legions of fans around the globe, see their evolution from the groundbreaking The Dreaming I, passing for their previous works of the best Dark Ambient that I have heard in years, even with their successful effort Melinoë that catapulted them directly to the point of popularity and respect that they currently enjoy is fascinating.

When I saw that Akhlys had released the new single from the anticipated and then reviewed The House Of The Black Geminus, all my senses were coordinated to pay all my musical attention in the most meticulous and surgical way to be able to review the future work. Obviously the hype was very intense on my part, since I didn't know what to expect after two great albums. Would they be able to surpass or even equal the level of their previous works? That was the question that was on my mind just before listening to this album.

Before talking about the dark and ominous musical expression that The House Of The Black Geminus contains, I would like to talk a little about the main theme that is explored in said album. Kyle Spanswick, better known by his artistic pseudonym “Naas Alcameth”, is the architect and thinking mind behind alternative projects such as the Nightbringer collective, Aoratos and Bestia Arcana (my personal favorite after Akhlys), he spoke in podcasts dedicated to extreme metal such as “Iblis Manifestations” and “Into The Necrosphere” a very interesting concept that he demonized as “The Black House”, in this esoteric concept the “dwelling” or “home” is divided into habitable places and liminal places in which energetic charges accumulate. That allow beings from other planes to “take refuge” in those points that people do not usually frequent, such as an attic or an attic for example. Furthermore, the exploration of the so-called “Daemon” or “Shadow-self”, referring to the dark astral body, a concept explored by the father of modern psychology Carl Gustav Jung.

All this generated in me great expectations about Akhlys' new release, since for me the spiritual and lyrical charge within this style of music is extremely important, this North American project has talented musicians who accompany Naas to replicate his compositions live, the current lineup being made up of Naas on lead vocals and guitar, Nox Corvus in backing vocals and guitar and Eoghan behind the drums.

Now entering into musical matters, The House Of The Black Geminus is for me the perfection of all Naas's efforts in creating ethereal and extremely sinister music, managing to trap the listener with ghostly melodies, and managing to balance the ruthless aggression with very long passages. More atmospheric and slower, which were what in my opinion were missing in previous albums.

The album begins in an ominous and forceful way, 'The Mask Of Night-Speaking' opens triumphantly, with a ferocious drum performance that maintains a very high level of composition and execution throughout the entire album. The precision with which the blast beats are played while the guitars weave chaotic, desolate and even nostalgic landscapes (which surprised me), it is simply masterful. All the songs (except the eponymous ambient song) have Naas's typical formula of musically channeling his ideas, creating a tension that always breaks into a rush of adrenaline or "climax" that generates feelings of desperation and fear, just what that Naas had been seeking to express throughout his career, plus his voice remains as acidic and misanthropic as ever, although in my opinion in this record Naas achieved his best vocal performance of all his projects, giving screams that would make anyone's skin crawl if they have blood in their bodies.

As in all of Akhlys' works, purely atmospheric passages are mandatory, in this case the eponymous song fulfills said role satisfactorily, being monotonous but effective and very immersive, with layers of hymnotic sythetizers that submerge us, very comparable to the minimalist success by Burzum entitled “Rundgang Um Die Transzendentale Säule Der Singularität”. The two songs that were released as singles are distributed in the two halves of the album, both being triumphant anthems that exalt the album in their corresponding parts with an overwhelming sinister ferocity. 'Maze Of Phobetor' was my favorite, its sonic violence accompanied by sinister melodies.

But after the sonic assault suffered, the album takes on other unexpected nuances with a triumphant closing that shows another side of Akhlys, one much more evocative as well as brutal. 'Eye Of The Daemon - Daemon I' is a desolate song with a somber melody that will give chills to anyone who listens to it. It is a nostalgic goodbye to an album that for my personal taste dethroned great titans like Ulcerate or the sludgers Thou. Not only is it my favorite album of the year, but, as pretentious as it may sound, it is Akhlys' best album to date. Their sound matured greatly through the years of experience they acquired over time in the global extreme metal scene. In conclusion, this is the Magnum Opus of the Night Goddess.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by Rocky on September 27, 2020.

The Scottish death metal band Scordatura will release their new album, Mass Failure on September 25th. The LP is the third studio album by the quartet and will be released under the Gore House Productions label. Initially, those who might be unaware of it should know that their drummer, Tam Moran, is possibly the main conductor of this band and their butchering death metal insanity. Further, Moran, with his style, shows that he isn’t only a drummer, but always makes a strong contribution with other instruments for the overall song structures. As with many other technical or trigger-sounding drums by many other acts, the drummer, most of the time, takes up the whole song with drumming, rather than being a significant part of the whole process. Here, Moran's incorporation of funk influences with traditional groove, all while balancing speed, groove and technique, gets the necessary depth. These butchers of Scordatura play their brutal death metal as a coherent force, being able to successfully create releases like six demos, one EP, and three full-lengths since their inception in 2005.

Whereas most brutal death metal bands in these modern times tend to release many full-lengths and engage in heavy tours, Scordatura takes the classic and traditional path of releasing lots of demos and keeps engaging their followers with full, livelier, and rawer atmospheric songs; they don't white-wash their followers with synthetics or over-produced sounds, which all sound similar. This also explains how they sound so powerful, imposing, and yet coherent. Across nine tracks, in less than 35 minutes, these traits will be evident with tracks like ‘Disease Of Mind’, ‘Nothing But Dust’, ‘Contorted Existence’, ‘The Flesh That Hates’, and ‘Collapse Of Humanity’. Even though the press termed it as ‘brutal death metal,’ in reality, it’s very hard to put them in any specific genre, and it would not be too much to say that the Scots play death, black, thrash, groove, funk, and jazz - where everything crammed into one becomes 34 minutes of sheer blasting, maddening brutality. There is no doubt that Mass Failure was built over the strongest elements from the group’s sophomore album, Self-Created Abyss. The outcome is best defined where you’re pissed off or enraged enough to cause destruction, and, with the imposing vocal delivery (or gut wrenching!) by Daryl Boyce and flesh ripping guitar tonality from Owen McKendrick guitar, there is something for everybody within this release.

With album art by Mark Erskine of Erskine Designs (Display of Decay, Hideous Divinity, Irreversible Mechanism), Mass Failure was recorded, mixed and mastered by Samuel Turbitt at Ritual Studios (Inebrious Incarnate, Ageless Oblivion, Unfathomable Ruination). Despite most of their contemporaries who are littered their lyrics about gore and rape, the Scots seem to be inspired by real-life chaos, corruption, disorder and existential crisis, which can be played in the cramped venues in Glasgow, and whose death metal onslaught will managed to get a respectable pit going early on. If genre staples like, "Liege of Inveracity", "Effigy of the Forgotten", "None So Vile', "Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas", 'A Skeletal Domain", "King of All Kings", "The Vile Conception" and "Sedition" make you sweat drenched and always pleased, then Scordatura shall take their place in your death metal playlist for a long while.

Rating: 8 out of 10