Atavisma - On the Ruins of a Fallen Empire

ATAVISMA - On the Ruins of a Fallen Empire (BLOOD HARVEST - 7"EP 2017)

I've known this fantastic band already since their "Where Wolves Once Dwelled" demo and later from "Buried in the Ethereal" split tape with Maur. So, buying "On the Ruins of a Fallen Empire" 7"EP was unquestionable. I had to have it. And I can sincerely say that Atavisma doesn't disappoint and this is a killer effort from them. 

Although hailing from France, you could say that Atavisma music sounds like a killer mixture of Swedish and Finnish death metal, with all their melodic and obscure characteristics, but all spiced with the crushing heaviness and overwhelming brutality of Incantation and the bands similar, like Disma or Morpheus Descends. Just imagine how such mixture could sound. For me, it is just awesome. Side A song called "The Shapes of Great Nothing" is a monolith of old school death metal, I just love the riffage, vicious savagery and intensity of this song, it's ruthless stuff, with beastly growls and morbid atmosphere. I can literally see the walls crackling, when this song is played loud. And I only play Atavisma music loud. These blast beats in the middle of the song do the job perfectly. Obviously "Amid the Ruins" from side B is equally great, although this song is slower, so even more heavy and crushing.  
All in all, I am very happy with this material and how Atavisma sounds. They improved a lot from the times of the “Where Wolves...” demo and with this 7” and more recent “The Chthonic Rituals“ album and split with Void Rot they immediately joined the ranking of my favourite European death metal bands. 
Verdict: 85/100