Review by Carl on January 10, 2024.

And we're off again to the Netherlands! Today we have on the chopping block the debut full length of black metal fiends Salacious Gods, from 1999. Now, we were up to our necks in black metal bands at that time, and there's not a lot on this album that we have not heard way before, but it would certainly do the band a disservice to write them off right away. Curious? I hope so, because I'm going to spin quite a yarn about this.

In style, this is a band that found a sweet and cozy spot in between the sounds of Dark Funeral and Dimmu Borgir from around the time of "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant". In practice this gives us a very well-executed dose of black metal that is poured in varied tracks, effortlessly alternating between punishing tremelo picked velocity and almost triumphant atmospheric parts, while drenched in thick layers of keyboards. Nothing new under the black sun, but the way above par playing keeps this thoroughly enjoyable throughout. At times the songs can be a tad predictable, it was black metal in 1999 after all, but in other places the band can get inventive as well. Take the opener "My Effigy Unfurled and Withered" for instance, where the riffs hint at a subtle death metal influence in the style of "Human" era Death and early Nocturnus. "Fire-storm" sees the inclusion of a dose of thrash metal riffing among the blackened atmospheres, and "Everlasting Winter Breeze" gets a slight gothic atmosphere injected through the use of spoken parts and short gloomy melodies, reminding me of old The Cure a bit. It's these elements that manage to elevate the band above the throng of black metal bands that were in the same ballpark as Salacious Gods, and just believe me when I say that there were a lot of 'em back then.

The production is pretty high class, and I was afraid there for a minute, because from the moment the percussion started, I immediately recognized that typical triggered 90's sound and realized: this was recorded in Franky's Recording Kitchen. It's a studio that recorded quite some Dutch death metal acts, and they had the annoying habit of delivering productions that all sound the same. Not so in this case, though. Agreed, those typical soggy triggered kick drums are indeed present, but Salacious Gods do sound like their own band here. That band being Dimmu Funeral or Dark Borgir, but at least this does not sound like any previous Franky's production job. Instead we get a loud and clear soundmix, that gives all the instruments their rightful place in the total picture. A wonderful job for sure, because the sound spectrum simply bulges with instrumentation. There's guitars, hefty dominant keyboards, drums, bass, and of course the mandatory screaming vocal delivery, and all are audible throughout. Sure, there's always room for criticism, like perhaps the guitars could've been just that bit louder, but as a whole this is a solid production job. The die-hard black metaller will consider this overproduced, but a band like Salacious Gods has no use for basement-style production values. This stuff needs to come out like rolling thunder, simple as that.

"Askengris" is a well above average album when it comes to execution and production, and while they may not be the most original black metal band on the block, there still are quite some good ideas present. In a time when you could throw a rock with your eyes closed and probably hit a black metal band passing by, these guys were above a lot of them. This is some quality black metal for sure, and Salacious Gods is a band well worth checking out in my opinion.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10