Review Summary: Three monstrous pieces compressed into one: the Esoctrilihum Deluxe Experience™️.
I believe at this point it’s safe to say that the genius (Asthâghul) behind the French avant-garde metal miracle, Esoctrilihum, is one of the most prolific creators in the extreme metal world. This year already had a strong,
in medias res start with the release of the band’s ninth album,
Funeral. Looking at the band’s stylistic progression, it’s relatively simple to notice a trend: Esoctrilihum is getting more and more atmospheric and somewhat more grandiose in time, and each release represents a milestone in the band’s musical evolution - and this very ambitious and gigantic release is not an exception either.
I’d like to start my review with an important supplementary info: the album in question is actually a “phusion-product” of
three “albums” written between 2020 and 2022. These sections can be seen as chapters of an enormous concept album: they tell the chronicles of a strange psychic warfare, which revolves around the ruling of all known planes of reality between three fictional deities…
(Wild concept, aye?) Since the textual guide related to this release contains just very cryptic and obscure descriptions about this story (not to mention that all the lyrics are written in Asthâghul’s secret language), so yet again: our fantasy remains the best company in the enjoyment of this album. Considering the length and the structure of this release, let’s investigate each chapter separately.
First chapter: In The Mystic Trance of Tȃimonh Ѳx, The Cosmic Bull God.
Generally speaking, this trilogy consist of three stylistically similar chapters, although, in the first third of
Astraal Constellations…, the more psychedelic and atmospheric side of Esoctrilihum protrudes, similarly to certain parts in other previous releases, such as
Eternity Of Shaog,
Saopth’s or
Funeral. The first chapter is made up of six relatively short tracks (I mean short by Esoctrilihum standards), which makes them probably easier to digest. Overall, it holds true for the album that the guitars step back to the background most of the time, but their actual presence varies between the chapters (but when they take the lead, the emerging modern black/death riffs are truly crushing). Instead of the guitars, Asthâghul put an array of diverse sounding synthesizers to the front (pad synths, flutes, organs, etc.), creating a mystical and ethereal atmosphere (some notable tracks to illustrate this are
Saturnyôsmachia and
Tȃimonh Ѳx). However, despite the heavy usage of atmospheric elements, this chapter can be described as aggressive and overwhelming - likely reflecting the essence of the desired feeling.
Second chapter: In The Presence Of AlŭBḁḁl, The 5-Eyed Star Beast.
Stylistically, this is the most aggressive section on the whole album, but the symphonic elements still bear a relatively strong influence on the sound of this chapter as well. On aggressiveness, do not expect a second
Consecration of the Spiritus Flesh here (which is still Esoctrilihum's most aggressive release by far), yet, this kind of “aggressiveness” can be detected in the feeling of the music rather than in style. The guitars stand out a bit more in these songs, just think of the track
AlŭBḁḁlisme, which is also the most guitar-centric piece on the entire album. The numerous layers of synthesizer melodies get very dominant yet again next track (
Shadow Lupus of Sæmons-Tuhr), but in contrast the mystical atmosphere of the first chapter, here it shifts towards a glorious, majestic, hymnic direction instead.
Sadly, the album's main weakness becomes apparent in this chapter too. Don't get me wrong, I do think this album is excellent, but the song-trio starting with
Skorpïus Nebŭlah Tyrant is surprisingly...
boring. I never thought I would say this about an Esoctrilihum release, but this roughly twenty-minutes-long section is simply elusive and somewhat forgettable. Perhaps plainly cutting them out would be a bit too radical, but at least these songs could have been molded into a longer composition to evade this effect (similarly to what can be heard in the third chapter). Of course, there are some significantly good riffs in these tracks too, but factors like the occasionally unimaginative drumming and Asthâghul's often overly monotonous vocals sadly diminished the overall enjoyment. Fortunately, the closing piece of the chapter,
Omniversal Zodiac War once again showcases the charm of Esoctrilihum’s music, but at the same time, it also underlines the thought how a bit of “shortening” could have been beneficial for this section.
Third chapter: In The Mouth Of Zi-Dynh-Gtir, The Serpen-Time Eater.
The closing chapter of the
Astraal Constellations… trilogy consists of two monumental tracks that together offer forty minutes of atmospheric black metal and dungeon synth melodies. Interestingly, thinking in larger compositions suits Asthâghul's style the best, in my opinion, therefore this feels the strongest part of the entire release. Stylistically, these songs do not deviate much from previous parts of the album; however, generally this chapter sounds far more melodic, moreover, there is a strong emphasis on the usage of ambient elements. The “weight” of the guitars is kept minimal here, or sometimes we can notice their full absence too - like in the final moments of the track
Zi-Dynh-Gtir - Eon Devourer, we don't hear any guitars at all! I would describe this very interesting sound as "extreme dungeon synth", where the melodies are played on synthesizers only, accompanied by quite aggressive metal drumming (definitely not something that Summoning would do) and Asthâghul's ghostly vocals on the secret reptilian language. Despite the strong ambient focus, this chapter doesn’t lack punchiness either. For instance, the middle part of
Serpathei-Xythioŋ - Reptilian Time Reversed contains several truly heavy riffs, which are also accompanied by layers of dungeon synth-like melodies to build an epic atmosphere.
The Astraal Constellations of the Majickal Zodiac is an exciting release. Solely the length of the album is impressive, but considering the album’s complexity and unique sound as well, then it’s clear why it is worthy to be praised. This is undoubtedly a piece of art meant for numerous re-listens, which also demands conscious attention from the listener - and in return, it is a guaranteed truly thrilling experience for all fans of extreme metal.
