Time to talk about another band that I know will be striking fear in the hearts of religious zealots across the country and will most likely not be getting invited to the local church picnic. If anything, this band would probably cause the local preacher to shit his pants if he heard them live.
The Kentucky based blackened death metal band, Fornicus, unleashes a fearsome demonic assault with the release of their third full-length album, “Sulphuric Omnipotence.” Fornicus holds nothing back on this new album by constructing vicious cuts of merciless black metal, while also adding some gruesome sounding old school death metal elements.
I think what stands out the most about this album is the band’s ability to avoid writing songs that are painfully gimmicky, which happens with some blackened death metal acts. They definitely pay attention to detail and don't just slam together some generic riffs to help promote some simplistic satanic themed agenda. The band’s debut album, “Storming Heaven,” was my first introduction to them and I definitely hear a shift in their sound on this new album. The debut album was a decent release, however, I find the musicianship and overall production on this new album to be slightly stronger. One area where I really noticed an improvement was the recording of the drum parts. The drums are not too loud, yet don’t sound drowned out by the guitar parts. Everything seems to flow in a ferocious synergy that remains consistent until the very end.
Out of the nine tracks I would say that you get a sufficient dose of extreme blackened death aggression. I don’t think the band ever tries to go beyond their musical identity by exploring unnecessary complex time signatures and randomly dabbling in the progressive metal realm. From the opening song, “Perdition’s Guiding Winds,” to the last song, “Usurping the Throne,” the band hammers out instrumental compositions that firmly establishes their blasphemous vision. For some this may be nothing new, but I tend to appreciate the ability to focus on solid riffs that leave an impact. A song such as, “The Abhorrent Path,” is well constructed in terms of presenting plenty of sinister sounding riffs and bombastic drums parts in a combed effort to create a mighty hellish atmosphere of grim proportions.
Another song worth noting is, “One Mass Grave,” which I would consider to be my favorite song off of the album. The band unleashes a scorching main guitar riff that leaves pure extreme carnage across the musical landscape, thus giving listeners a roll coaster ride through an oblivion of endless horror. Towards the end of the album, “Stormwolves” and “Tempestuous Flames,” were a couple of pieces that really exemplify that solid style of abysmal blackened death attitude. The brutal vocal delivery injects fear into the piece, while the guitars rip away like a demon ripping apart the soul of an unlucky victim.
I definitely would recommend this album for fans of black metal that also desire some pulverizing death metal touches thrown into the chaotic sounding mix. Overall, I believe Fornicus is an extreme metal act that has plenty of potential and shows a willingness to expand their dark desires with each new release. In a world where modern metal is becoming too watered down with bands that look like they are models for a New York City hipster fashion show, you need a band like Fornicus to come along and conjure up some truly devastating tracks of blackened death horror.
Check out the song "One Mass Grave" below:
Fornicus Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/fornicus666/
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed review Robby.