This is the best Asphyx album since "Last One On Earth," maybe even since "The Rack." They've regained some focus - the old dark, doom-infused sound - and added a major new player in Wannes Gubbels, who also sings for Pentacle and contributed greatly to the success of their excellent "Under The Black Cross" album. His voice is as excellent here as it is for Pentacle, a growling crossbreed of John Tardy and previous Asphyx singer Martin van Drunen.
There's no need to single out a lot of individual tracks here, as 1. there aren't that many, and 2. they are all of very high caliber. I will say though that the opener "Summoning The Storm" reveals all the album's strengths right up front. It's fast at times - not blasting fast, but old school freight-train fast - with a heavy, doomy middle section that bludgeons you with one of the album's most memorable riffs and thunderous drums. Here and throughout the album, the percussion is loud and bass-heavy, the guitar is grinding and nasty, and Gubbels growls dementedly over the top of it all in a cavernous (but not overdone) reverb. It's a decidedly 1990-ish sound, and it really works.
Add some terrific cover art, and this is a release you shouldn't miss - even if you did when it first came out. |
