Review by Elijah on April 28, 2020.

Matt Kilner is definitely one of my favorite drummers. His work primarily consists of brutal death metal, with him filling in for Putridity live one time, being the current drummer for Gorgasm, and is in another great ass band Iniquitous Deeds. The man clearly has a specific type of taste in metal, and it's easy to notice it. He's a fantastic drummer, if you've seen his playing on YouTube you can easily tell he's a unit of sheer brutality. But he doesn't play just drums, he's also a guitarist. If he's that good of a drummer, he's gotta be a good guitarist too, right? Well yes, he is indeed. He does everything on this EP, and it's fucking fabulous!

I never really acknowledged/noticed that he also played guitar aside from drumming, which is his primary instrument, and as this EP displays, he's just as good at everything else as he is with drums. This EP truly does sound like a full band, but nope! It's a one-man effort, this is some excellent material.

I've been a fan of Matt's work for about a little under a year, because last year was THE YEAR that I established my love for brutal death metal and started getting introduced to more bands and subgenres. I found his channel on YouTube around last summer and I loved it, it's beautiful. I knew that he's currently in Gorgasm and is also in Iniquitous Deeds, but I never knew about this solo project of his until last night. And I figured if I've already liked everything he's done in the first place, this'll probably be just as good, right? Well yes, I was 100% right.

Fetid Reek of Interminable Existence has 4 crushing tracks that total out to 11 minutes, and it's honestly a lot to offer, and the fact that this is a one-man effort makes it even better. First off we have to start with the drums. I can't describe exactly how I like my drums to sound any better than this. Clanky-yet-solid snare that has a nice foundation, loud and present toms, and ear-thumping kick drums that also have a "hollow" and clicky feel/sound to it. I love this drum sound, absolute perfection. This sound is often common in a lot of technical/experimental brutal death metal, and it's the peak sound in my opinion; these fits best with that exact sound and style. As expected, he delivers fabulously on the drums here. Compare it to his covers and other videos on his channel; the man is flawless, on time, and doesn't hold back. This EP has drumming that features blast beats with consistency, swift patterns, punishing double kicking, it can't get any better than this. The drums are an absolute eargasm in every way shape and form. The guitars are great as well. They have a "loose" and "hollow" type of feel to it, like the drums. This certain guitar sound is also another common thing in this exact type of brutal death metal. It just sounds so great. I love that raw-esque experimental but also brutal and punishing sound. The playing ability and riffs are good as you'd expect, they're not dull, too much, or overdone; they're fast, follow the speed and style the drums do, and scatter out a bit everywhere and does its own thing. The guitar work is fabulous and very enjoyable, good work put into it for sure. The vocal work is great as well. They're burpy and dry, but also remaining guttural and juicy, pretty much identical to the vocals on Cerebral Effusion's album "Impulsive Psychopathic Acts". I absolutely LOVE these types of vocals, they complement the music in the greatest way possible, especially since the music has a technical/experimental sound, if you know what I'm saying. Everything just fits together perfectly.

It's 11 minutes in total, but it honestly does feel a little longer than that. I like that despite this not being that long, the length is a good amount and it fills the listener's ears with wonderful music and leaves them feeling good. All the songs are magnificent and greatly written, it's not boring or bland. This album has a distinct and certain sound, and that's one of the reasons why I like it a lot. This certain type of brutal death metal is so amazing and always brings a kickass punch. The production is awesome, and the overall execution of this release is perfect.

I checked this out earlier today and listened to it about 4 times throughout the rest of the day. I had a strong feeling last night that this would be good, and it is! I wasn't sure I'd like this that much, but I do. This is wonderful, this is perfect. Absolutely ideal and flawless. This EP has a technical, experimental, and nasty brutal sound. Definitely one of my new favorite EP releases ever, thank you for the great music, Matt. Keep it up! I highly recommend this.

FFO: Wormed, Molested Divinity, 7 H. Target, Iniquitous Deeds, Enmity, Colonize the Rotting, Hymenotomy, Cerebral Effusion, Gorgasm, Engutturalment Cephaloslamectomy, Putridity.

Rating: 9.6 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 27, 2024.

Norway has lost its leading role in terms of black metal already years ago, although some bands still try to follow in the footsteps of the pioneers. The bitter truth is: usually they fail. Hjemsøkt’s debut EP explains why. “Mystikk og Mørke” is a generic yet suitable title, the artwork is quite impressive in its simplicity. But the songs lack coherence. “Steinens mørke søvn” starts relatively promising with a dense guitar wall, but it does not take long until a break leads to a comparatively expressionless mid-tempo part. The song implodes completely as an acoustic break sets in. Only the extremely raw vocals remind us of the fact that we are listening to a black metal output. Finally, the song regains the intensity of the beginning with the fiery guitars until it ends abruptly. I am sorry, but this is an opener where the sum of the single parts is disappointing, because it does not shape a convincing overall result.

The further tracks have the same problem. Some sections are okay, but just when you think things are really getting going, the band is suddenly overcome by weltschmerz again and everything fizzles out. The short, calm intermezzo “Sorgens hymne” marches to a different drummer. The lead vocalist accompanies the mild guitar work with a relatively clean voice, but the whole thing remains insignificant. Anyway, such an interlude can be ignored as long as the other songs meet the expectations. But really thrilling sections do not occur here and, aggravating the situation, the production does not make the songs better. The guitars swallow the drums almost completely. Only the voice is able to resist the dominance of the guitars whose sound is free from nuances. Everything leaves a fuzzy picture. Perhaps some guys say that this type of production fits the genre excellently, but I disagree. A more professional sound would have been a fine thing, but maybe a low budget left no other options, so I don’t want to be too harsh here.

Now that I have explained why “Mystikk og Mørke” does not make my day, an important question remains: does the band has the talent and potential to do it better? Honestly speaking, time will tell, but if they focus on a few good ideas and lines per song, it is possible that they can make some huge steps forward. And they have to make a decision. Either they want to celebrate very intense black metal, or they like to embody a lot of tragic and fatalism. Their EP has shown that they cannot connect both streams successfully, at least not until now. Despite a few still great bands, Norway has lost a lot of its glory.

Rating: 5.3 out of 10