Tuesday, 14 July 2015

Azelisassath - Evil Manifestations Against Mankind (Album Review)

Tracklist:
1. Path of His Majesty
2. In Times of Heresy 
3. Profanities from the Void   
4. Thorns of Damnation                     
5. Chains of the Fearless         
6. A Fate so Destined to Come
7. The Fall of a God   
8. Blasphemys Throne

This is the second full length album from the Swedish black metal band Azelisassath, whose line up has fluctuated between a two man, and a one man project, this album however was a solo effort from “Azelisassath” otherwise known as “Swartadauþuz”.

The first point that that struck me about this album was the dark, croaky and often echoed vocals of Azelisassath, which I felt were a little underused and deserved a more prominent role within the album as they cast a cold melancholic shadow that darkened the feel of the whole album.  The second was the restrained use of synth, that again just like the vocal work was underused, but when it was used to its full potential as can be heard on the sixth track on the album A Fate so Destined to Come it added a great deal to both the complexity and melancholy of the sound.

My key problem with this album is that I felt as though I was listening to a drum track that just happened to have some good riff, vocal and synth work attached. The drums completely dominated the album, and forced everything else to the back and left them struggling to be heard for the most part.

Despite having some interesting elements, this album provides nothing new to either the band’s sound or black metal in general, and because of the obsession with drums the album has I would find it hard to listen to it again in its entirety.         

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