PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
.@Planetmosh reviews the debut album by #assacrentis
The French resort city of Nice may be located on the sunny Mediterranean coast, but that does not mean that it is not soaked in darkness, as this debut album from veteran local black metallers Assacrentis – originally formed by vocalist/guitarist Dagoth as Cursed Artefact back in 1999, they’ve previously only released one demo/EP, ‘Secrets From The Past’, exactly a decade ago – attests.
The main problem with this release, however, is that it is too firmly straitjacketed into the 1990s roots of the band – and at the same time cannot make up its mind whether or not it wants to stray into a more power metal path, especially with the overly clean guitar sound.
That’s not to say it’s a bad album – because it’s not! It certainly ticks all the right boxes in terms of punishing blastbeats (it’s nice to see Abaddon back in action – BM fans must be wondering where he’s been hiding for the past decade… oh, wait, you mean there’s two drummers with that name? Shit!), cyclical riffs and necromantic vocals, and the songs are well constructed and more than ably performed – although the production is overly clean and takes away any underlying feel of menace which the band may have been seeking to induce.
Track list:
Sacrificial Rites / Reign Of Apocalypse / Banished Forever / Witches’ Lair / The Secrets From The Past / Dark Madness / Infernal Uruk Hai / Iconoclasm / Day of Chaos / The Land Of Winter Without Sun / The Half Moon
Recommended listening: Witches’ Lair
‘Put Them To Fire And Sword’ is out now and is available from https://assacrentis.bandcamp.com/merch
