Review by Michael on June 26, 2022.

On their already seventh album within 12 years Swedish death metal institution Entrails invites us for another sick trip to meet death and decay. Tuned down crushing HM-2 guitar sound prevails on An Eternal Time Of Decay just like on the previous releases and sends the listener back into the early 90s. The production is done very well (all producing was done by the band itself, mixing by Jimmy Lundquist, their guitar player himself and the mastering was done by Dan Swanö) and sounds the way a death metal album should sound like.

After a short gloomy intro that raises some ghoulish zombies from the graves in my imagination, the death metal inferno slowly starts. Okay, the cover was an inspiration for this image; too, I have to confess. 'Die To Death' is a quite fast and crushing track with some really cool lyrics (Taylor Nordberg from Inhuman Condition, Deicide etc. wrote these for the band) and appears to be a very good start for the album. The next few tracks however rush along without any big surprises. The guys deliver their “usual” Swedish death metal songs with some punk influences so that's the reason why I said that the album starts slowly. It's not bad, don't get me wrong but something is missing a little bit. Again we meet Taylor Nordberg featuring a guest appearance with a guitar solo on 'Slayed To A Pile Of Flesh' - the lyrics were written by the former Entrails member Jocke Svensson. 'Open Casket Feast' is turning into a pretty good and very classical Swedish death piece and with 'Dead By Evil' (guess what the inspiration for these lyrics was) the album turns out to be pretty awesome. A sinister intro and a ton of HM-2 riffs witch catchy, stomping melodies start to kick ass and rip you out of the somewhat half-awake mood. By the way the track was already written in the very early 90s. Also the other four following tracks are some real killer tracks. I guess if they had been released in the heydays of Swedeath Entrails would have become one of the big ones along the other ones needless to mention here. 'Autopsy' is a very melodic song with some double bass arrangements and a very gloomy whispered chorus; it is definitely one of the highlights of the album. Again the band had some lyrical support, this time by Danny Nelson from Malignancy and his girlfriend Eva Andersen. Closing with a mid-tempo wrecking-ball called 'Possessed' the quartet shows time and again that they can write pretty good death metal songs.

So, I guess I have to draw a conclusion now, right? An Eternal Time Of Decay has its strengths but also its lengths (anybody nominating me for the next Pulitzer Prize for this sentence?). The first couple of songs (apart from 'Die To Death') are quite average death metal one or the other may have heard somewhere else already. But I guess that the intention of Entrails isn't to reinvent the wheel here so it is quite noteworthy that they put their strongest songs to the second half of the album. Maybe it's just some kind of psychological trick to listen to the whole album. Nevertheless it is an album that isn't too bad to listen to and for sure no waste of time. Death metal purists will have a lot of joy while listening to it while people who may be looking for something new better take their fingers off of it.

Rating: 8 out of 10 zombies

Review by Fernando on June 18, 2019.

One of the most pleasant surprises on black metal back in 2015 was the debut album by then mysterious polish band Batushka and from there the band made a large splash on the Polish scene and across the world of extreme metal. Unfortunately, the success of Litourgiya and clout Batushka earned caused the now very public legal dispute between founder Krzysztof Drabikowski and former singer Bartłomiej Krysiuk and both parties are planning to continue using the name. But all that is beside the point now which is the album that Drabikowski released online out of nowhere to the surprise of everyone familiar with Batushka and frankly if there was any doubt of who was the mastermind behind what made Litourgiya so good is definitely Krzysztof Drabikowski aka “Христофор”.

Panikhida or Панихида is the name of the album which roughly translates to “Requiem” is indeed the follow up to Litourgiya many were waiting and wanting, musically the album picks up where Litourgiya left off. The unique blend of Polish black metal and Orthodox Gregorian chanting is back in full force but this time the music takes a much more layered and even melodic direction, the music is much more refined and focused than in Litourgiya while maintaining the atmosphere and ethos of that same album. Due to the legal dispute of over the Batushka name Drabikowski has had to compose the album entirely by himself, although there’s some sources that claim that for this album he brought on board his original pick for Batushka’s singer which to this day is unknown who he is. However that doesn’t detract from how this album has turned out. Drabikowski succeeds in expanding Batushka’s sound, biggest standout of how much of an upgrade this album is musically is the second song, simply titled "Песнь II", it’s the band’s longest track and has a unique structure, going from fast to mid-pace to an ambient dirge which those with a keen ear will identify as the intro melody from Batushka’s live concerts in 2016 and 2017.

Furthermore the album has a much more somber tone than Litourgiya. That album was very opulent and even operatic in places, but for Panikhida, the tone is much more melancholic and forlorn, which is very appropriate considering the title, since a “Requiem” is a mass dedicated for the dead, a memorial service and the music’s overall tone and atmosphere have this overwhelming and cold feel that perfectly encapsulates this particular theme of remembering the dead. All in all, this album is everything any Batushka fan could want and is a step forward for the band musically. It’s a cold and ruthless album while also being elegant and refined. Regardless of what happens with the whole “Drabikowski vs Krysiuk” dispute the music speaks for itself and many, including myself consider this album, the true Batushka sophomore record.

Best tracks: "Песнь II", "Песнь III", "Песнь VIII"

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Fernando on June 18, 2019.

One of the most pleasant surprises on black metal back in 2015 was the debut album by then mysterious polish band Batushka and from there the band made a large splash on the Polish scene and across the world of extreme metal. Unfortunately, the success of Litourgiya and clout Batushka earned caused the now very public legal dispute between founder Krzysztof Drabikowski and former singer Bartłomiej Krysiuk and both parties are planning to continue using the name. But all that is beside the point now which is the album that Drabikowski released online out of nowhere to the surprise of everyone familiar with Batushka and frankly if there was any doubt of who was the mastermind behind what made Litourgiya so good is definitely Krzysztof Drabikowski aka “Христофор”.

Panikhida or Панихида is the name of the album which roughly translates to “Requiem” is indeed the follow up to Litourgiya many were waiting and wanting, musically the album picks up where Litourgiya left off. The unique blend of Polish black metal and Orthodox Gregorian chanting is back in full force but this time the music takes a much more layered and even melodic direction, the music is much more refined and focused than in Litourgiya while maintaining the atmosphere and ethos of that same album. Due to the legal dispute of over the Batushka name Drabikowski has had to compose the album entirely by himself, although there’s some sources that claim that for this album he brought on board his original pick for Batushka’s singer which to this day is unknown who he is. However that doesn’t detract from how this album has turned out. Drabikowski succeeds in expanding Batushka’s sound, biggest standout of how much of an upgrade this album is musically is the second song, simply titled "Песнь II", it’s the band’s longest track and has a unique structure, going from fast to mid-pace to an ambient dirge which those with a keen ear will identify as the intro melody from Batushka’s live concerts in 2016 and 2017.

Furthermore the album has a much more somber tone than Litourgiya. That album was very opulent and even operatic in places, but for Panikhida, the tone is much more melancholic and forlorn, which is very appropriate considering the title, since a “Requiem” is a mass dedicated for the dead, a memorial service and the music’s overall tone and atmosphere have this overwhelming and cold feel that perfectly encapsulates this particular theme of remembering the dead. All in all, this album is everything any Batushka fan could want and is a step forward for the band musically. It’s a cold and ruthless album while also being elegant and refined. Regardless of what happens with the whole “Drabikowski vs Krysiuk” dispute the music speaks for itself and many, including myself consider this album, the true Batushka sophomore record.

Best tracks: "Песнь II", "Песнь III", "Песнь VIII"

Rating: 9 out of 10