Release Date: 21 December 2018
Song Count: 8
Duration: 51 minutes, 26 seconds
Rating: 5.9/10
Description:
Song Count: 8
Duration: 51 minutes, 26 seconds
Rating: 5.9/10
Description:
Wrapping up this year's month of May, we have got another Ván Records album and a metal act with a fascinating gimmick in our sights - Sulphur Aeon, a German blackened death metal band centred around Lovecraftian monsters by the likes of Cthulhu and other horrors beyond human comprehension, with their third full-length release. The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos represents a haunting tale in a format that lends itself better than almost any other for this kind of fictional theme, that being a glooming style of metal music. Sensations of darkness, malice and despair practically blares in every corner of the work, which is certainly an intended effect.
Letting active melodies make way or act as an accompanying force to the larger atmosphere being built up, the tunes present here are nothing short of dread-inducing in their nature. Growls and "bleh"s from the vocals set the tone of impending forces looming over the metaphorical world being built, and the looping, distorted grooves that firmly sit and linger add further onto this feeling. It all culminates into one experience that uses the key features of death and black metal to its advantage to set up its biggest anchor point and bring it all together.
An ambitious work with plenty of workable themes floating around, The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos promises heaps of potential, and is effective at a lot of its aims from an artistic standpoint. With that being said, the rather monotone progression and less dynamic nature of the album led to a listening experience that grew more tiring and stale relatively quickly, leaning into the cosmic horror side of things well yet struggling to draw much interest into them. Certainly a valiant effort from a band with loads of talent, but perhaps simply not quite for yours truly.