Asphagor
The Aphotic Vortex
Their 5th studio album has a very thick and professional sound production that pillars far above their previous outputs. The guitars are so clear of sound and yet, deliver such devasting harsh sounding riffs combined with some of the most hypnotic and beautiful melodies throughout the entire record, supported by the heaviness of the underlaying bass tones that gives the music the right punch it needs. The drums are captivating, variated while they pound their way through each song from slow tempo break fills to fast phased blast beats. The vocals deliver one of the most outstanding performances I've heard in a long time, from speech to scream, from haunted to melancholic sounding notes, there is enough variation going on to keep the listeners attention. Besides all the mentioned, the album brings forth some of the most fascinating interludes entangled in synths and other orchestra instruments to create that story like feeling from the beginning til ending. The Aphotic Vortex is without a doubt an outstanding record that surpassed its predecessors and which every fan of the Black & Death Metal genre will be able to enjoy til the fullest. A brutal, fierce, relentless, mesmerizing and above all renewed sounding album by Asphagor is what you may expect. Recommended if you like: Ascension, Chaos Invocation, Deathspell Omega, Schammasch, Theotoxin, Watain.