Blasphemous Fire - Beneath the Darkness

BLASPHEMOUS FIRE - Beneath the Darkness (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2023)

If you felt like some of the recent Godz ov War releases were not metal enough for you, then Blasphemous Fire will please you much, much more. This shit is 666% metal to the bone, so stop complaining. Blasphemous Fire is from Portugal and arose from the ashes of Summon. You may remember this band from their “Parazv Il Zilittv”, which was a pretty good album. I'm not really sure whether we should treat Blasphemous Fire as a completely new band or more like a continuation of Summon, but with a different name. Whatever. What matters is that here is “Beneath the Darkness”, a debut album from that kommando. 

Technically, there’s not so much to write about “Beneath the Darkness”. It's just a faakking death / black metal – nothing more, nothing less. I like that from start to finish you’re punched by that bestial death metal riffage and Blasphemous Fire doesn’t waste time for intros or whatever else. There are nine proper songs, with no bullshit, no fucking around. “Beneath the Darkness” is brutal and intense, vicious and savage, and has that dark, obscure feel, which may give you an idea that Blasphemous Fire comes into that same category of bands as Grave Miasma, Lvcifyre or Cruciamentum. Fine, they are all killer bands, right? Expect also that the music is mostly mid paced, speaking of the tempos, but fast and even slow parts are there also, so the music has plenty of dynamics and variations. Blasphemous Fire obviously doesn’t reinvent the wheel, there’s nothing exceptional about “Beneath the Darkness”, but I think that the devastation it brings is enough for recommendation. This is just great quality shit, so light this blasphemous fire and let it burn. 

Verdict: 75/100

Estrangement - Disfigurementality

ESTRANGEMENT - Disfigurementality (AESTHETIC DEATH - CD 2023)

Finally, I have some time to write about this great and surprising CD, which arrived from the Aesthetic Death headquarters. It’s been waiting for its turn way too long – pardon, but I was just too busy. Also, I always had a huge stack of records to listen to and gave a priority to more known bands – which is natural, I suppose. But what a mistake it was, in this particular case! Ladies and gentlemen, here is Estrangement and their debut album “Disfigurementality”. I’ve been listening to this album for a few long days and wondering what smart things I could write about it. I’m sure that whatever efforts I make, I’ll never be able to give a full justice to Estrangement and describe this CD properly. Certainly, it’s one of the most diverse and adventurous records I’ve recently heard. One, where every song can amaze and is different from the previous ones, so it’s been a full of surprises journey. 

Maybe it would make sense if I described every song from “Disfigurementality”, one by one, and gave you a more complete idea about the album content this way. But I hate doing that, especially with my narrow English. So, let’s skip that. In general, Estrangement music is based on (funeral) doom metal. A good part of the music goes according to this genre’s rules, with slow paced, heavy, sorrowful riffs, accompanied by a bit of melody. And by a vicious, almost black metal scream, which sometimes can balance that melancholic atmosphere with aggression and anger. But Estrangement never stays with the same sound for long and they do a lot of crazy things to make their music sound more interesting and richer. First of all, the use of cellos, violins and other unusual instruments is something that stands out, giving almost a strong neoclassical influence (like from Penderecki) to the sound (classical meets My Dying Bride, what about that?!). I dare to say that I’ve never heard a band, which would incorporate that into doom metal the way Estrangement does. And it definitely works brilliantly, especially if you notice that not all riffs are your typical doom metal, but there’s a lot of more progressive guitar work as well. Estrangement balances their music in many ways, which gives it nice dynamics and that curiosity factor. It’s almost like in a best novel - you just can’t tell what’s gonna come next. In “Fire Voice” there’s even a bit of folk music, I think? And the vocals are also perfectly balanced between harsh growl / scream and clean, sometimes choral like singing. The atmosphere is constantly gloomy and mesmerizing, hence it sounds very attractive and never dull. 

I may realize that “Disfigurementality” is not an album for everyone, it may sound too weird sometimes for some listeners. Other will prefer a more aggressive and straight forward sound. But I ask you to give Estrangement a try. Personally, I’m very surprised and I have to say that it certainly is one of the most often listened to albums of the recent months for me. It's great stuff, no doubt, I just hope that more people will notice that. 

Verdict: 80/100