Review by Alex on October 6, 2024.

Sørgelig – a name that did not occur on my radar so far, but all reviews about their previous releases had a positive tone. Given this, I did not hesitate to dive into Φθορά. This was one of the better decisions in my life. Okay, the opener remains mysteriously vapid. It is one of these songs that come and do not stink, but they are forgotten as soon as their last tine has faded away. But 'Libation Of Blood', the second track of the album, immediately corrects the first impression. The Greek squadron of death opens the gates to the truly barren landscapes of their realm of Nordic-influenced black metal for the first time. This track is a pure musical dictatorship and far away from far from sparing anyone with its sinister, breakneck speed and destructive nature. Its best element is the sick guitar tones that show up at 2:37. They accompany the lead guitar in an eerie manner and give the entire track a pretty insane, almost psychopathic touch. No doubt, this song must be considered as the first highlight of Φθορά.

While the production appears as the professional edition of the one that plays its part in making “Transilvanian Hunger” an all-time classic of the genre, the musical approach of the quintet delivers more nuances than Darkthrone back in 1994. A live event with them and their compatriots of Sad would be a musically homogeneous evening. Nonetheless, Sørgelig are able to create their own pestilential odour, not least because of the variable vocals. Usually, the lead singer focuses on the typical, soul-eating nagging and screaming, but a few commanding clean lines and spooky high-pitched screams also show up. 'Throne Of The Depths' unites all these different facets of the vocals, but this is just one reason why this track is also among the most recommendable of the album. It’s a perfect balance between straightness and complexity and the constantly strong guitar lines contribute the lion’s share to the enormous quality of this dynamic and extremely energetic piece. By this point at the latest, towards the middle of the work, the uncharismatic opener is forgotten.

Sørgelig do not reinvent the wheel. The fascination of their music is not based on innovation but on the combination of musical excellence and stylistic purity of their approach. Of course, black thrash is a very cool and casual bastard, but generally speaking, black metal should not be diluted by alien influences. The genre has its own magical core. In order to keep its magic, it will hopefully never be fully explored; but it spreads its intriguing vibrations restlessly and the formation from the cradle of European culture is able to catch these vibrations and turn them into violent music of a noble, partly smooth yet always devastating kind. The artwork underlines their firmly defined positioning. Naturally, one can say that the artwork is simple-minded or nearly ridiculous, but those who hold this opinion haven’t understood anything about the aesthetics of black metal.

The second half of the album consists of the strong '...Of Wrath And Pyre' and 'Inexorable Grey' which is a great opus whose opening guitar melody reminds me of Germany’s Desaster. The piano in the non-metallic title track guarantees more horror than the last five King Diamond albums together and an epic and (at the end) atmospheric yet mostly brutal and massive final song closes the gates to this wasteland of human abysses again. More than 42 minutes of black metallic bestiality left me impressed. I mean you can make a tourist trip to Greece without visiting the Acropolis, but maybe it feels incomplete. And you can listen to new black metals from Greece without giving Φθορά a chance. The result would be the same.

Rating: 8.4 out of 10