Aevangelist: De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumulis

You have to love a band that eschews traditional terms like "vocals," "guitars," "bass," and "drums" in favor of something entirely new. In this case, the two members of Aevangelist—more precisely the Coven of Aevangelist—perform the "Hideous Spirit Voice" and the "Abyss Melodies." I think I can live with that, at least in spirit. The band also cautions listeners that they are "the prophetic art of the ultimate oblivion of the universe, heralds of an apocalyptic death theocracy. Look upon the setting sun and despair."Sounds like the plot of a novel, but it is more directly part of Percy Shelley's poem "Ozymandias." Remember that one? The poem with the famous lines that read "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!" The irony of the poem, of course, is that the statue bearing that warning is crumbling. Everything fades. Nice theme for a metal album. The title of the album, likewise, refers back to an old tome about corpses reviving long enough to gnaw on their own flesh and worry the neighborhood a bit.

Enough of the theme, what about the music? It's mixed. The album begins with a 10 minute introduction, half of which is a dark ambient science-fiction infused soundtrack to a world gone horribly wrong. It sounds like something from The Matrix or the chaotic battle scenes in The Terminator movies. It's interesting, but hard to listen to. Nevertheless, it sets up the overall theme of despair, doubt, and darkness pretty well.

The rest of the album continues to play with dark ambience, but adds to it a significant amount of dark and aggressive death metal. The vocals are harsh and wicked, often performed at the same level as the guitars and drums, never quite leaping into the lead. I liked the way everything blended together to create a gloomy and awful atmosphere. At times, the music turns somewhat conventional, but quickly turns away. The members of Aevangelist, true to their promise, don't want this album to sound like anything else. For the most part, they succeed, but the result is not necessarily the kind of album one listens to over and over for pleasure. To me, this release has much to admire for what it is trying to do, but it also pushes so hard into overly-distorted noise that I often found myself wanting something more. For listeners who are ready for a new direction in death metal, one that blends the despair of horror with the darkness of ambient gloom, this is a good place to start.

Track Listing:
1. Anno Mortii—Gnostic Transcendental Heresy
2. Pendulum
3. Death Illumination
4. Funeral Monolith
5. Hierophant Disposal Facility
6. The Longevity of Second Death
7. Helix Covenant
8. Blood & Darkness
9. Crematorium Angelicum

Added: March 1st 2014
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 2253
Language: english

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