Kratherion - Mantra Lucifer Flagelantes

KRATHERION - Mantra Lucifer Flagelantes (OLD TEMPLE CD 2015)

Among all the releases from Old Temple, which I collected recently, this one is surely among my favourites. Damn, what a killer album, what a great surprise to hear such a devastating bestial death / black metal from Kratherion, who I only knew by name before playing this CD. I had read some interviews or reviews about this Chilean commando, but somehow never had a chance to hear their music, until “Mantra Lucifer Flagelantes” blew my speakers off. But quickly this shit excited me like crazy and now I can add another superb band to the list of Chilean unholy forces that are worth of your support. Well, this country is no bullshit, when speaking of extreme metal music.

What you get on “Mantra Lucifer Flagelantes” are 40 minutes of fuckin bestial devastation, of absolutely fierce, violent and morbid black / death metal. Some may call it war metal, some others will name it bestial metal… whatever, dude! It’s just damn awesome music. What I like about “Mantra Lucifer Flagelantes” is that Kratherion has the savagery and viciousness of the so called war metal, with all the typical stuff which the bands from this genre usually have. But they present it in more interesting form. Their music is not one dimensional, boring crap of primitiveness and mindlessness. It’s not pointless cacophony with utterly shitty sound. No. The production of “Mantra Lucifer Flagelantes” is simply good and solid. It is heavy, powerful sound, so it’s not just a wall of unbearable noise. And the songs are not just fast and fast again. They are more diverse, with some splendid slow parts and of course the blasting stuff is there as well. In some way, the whole stuff reminds me Embrace of Thorns, Impiety or Bestial Raids, with Spanish lyrics that give something extra to the whole sound, probably resembling such Morbosidad or Colombian Masacre.

I like the slow parts the most, because they sound so fuckin’ heavy, so crushing. Just give a listen to such “Death Kult Church Omega”, “Mantra Lucifer Flagelantes”  or “Agonia Dantesca y Macabra” and you’ll know why I like it so much. But of course their faster songs are also damn sweet. I like how relentless, how intense and fuckin violent and powerful Kratherion music sounds here and how they evoke this morbid, obscure atmosphere in it. Obviously this is not super technical music; the riffs or arrangements can be sometimes simple, but not primitive for sure. And definitely Kratherion has enough ideas to please all the maniacs of the most extreme of metal styles. So I can easily recommend this album to all extreme metal maniacs. It’s definitely a worthy piece of death kult and well, I can only start looking for some more Kratherion shit. It needs to be collected!

Standout tracks: “Death Kult Church Omega”, “Agonia Dantesca y Macabra”, “Mantra Lucifer Flagelantes”

Final rate: 75/100