This band kind of came out of nowhere as I was trying to find bands that incorporated both technical death metal and black metal well. Finding this particular band that incorporated symphonic black metal and technical death metal certainly raised my eyebrows a bit and my skepticism almost got the better of me. But upon listening...my god this is brilliant.
There are a lot of similarities in the technical riffing that one would expect on an Obscura album but the noticeable darkness and black metal sound truly shines on this making it one of the most unique and memorable metal albums of 2015. While the production is absolutely top notch with everything feeling extremely cohesive and level, the songwriting is what sets this in a whole league above. It's not completely unpredictable that it's hard to follow but there are well enough mix-ups to keep you on your feet and intrigued throughout. Songs like Desert Planet and Throne of Thorns offer the technicality that will please death metal fans and songs like Monolith and Utopian Flesh have a clear symphonic black metal aesthetic.
The very prominent black metal song structures mixed with death metal blasts and angular spider-like riffs is exactly the kind of compromise these genres should offer and the execution is as close to perfect as you can get. Neither genre feels like it's overpowering than the other, it's one of the most fluid and consistently brilliant metal records of this decade.
