Review Summary: The Art of Pulverization
Azarath is a band I once put on equal grounds with the metal titans known as Behemoth. Every album these guys put out is essentially an attempted rerun of Behemoth's earth-shaking monstrosity: Demigod, which is easily one of the heaviest albums ever made, by far. Although Demigod's production style always put it just one step ahead of Azarath's releases in terms of being heavy. But what if I told you that after a six year waiting period, Azarath finally released an album that out-behemoths the Behemoth? Would you believe me? Go ahead. Take a listen. And prepare to be blown away.
Ever since Azarath released "Blasphemers' Maledictions" back in 2011, I've been anxiously awaiting another release. I'm here to say it's been worth the long ass waiting period. From the start of the album, literally from the zero second mark, we kick off with a slamming black metal blast beat from Inferno that mimics Behemoth's aggression. The drums are turned up quite a bit in the production, while making them flat on the equalizer, so as to make them really loud, but not unbearable, and so they stand out more.
Bart and Necrosodom deliver fantastic guitar work, matching the rhythm's deep tuning for a dark/death metal backing, with the relentless tremolo shred for the more sinister blackened tone. They're turned up quite a bit so the drums don't overpower them, and instead compliment each other almost perfectly.
Necrosodom's vocals also greatly stand out amongst Azarath's other releases, as they almost sound like Glen from Deicide from time to time. There is also a moment on the track, "The Slain God", that brings out Necrosodom's clean vocals for brief period. Don't worry though, as he does them in such a way that it does not take away from the track's animosity, and instead adds a tone that is melodically foreboding. Thus adding to atmosphere a bit.
Lyrically, this isn't the most evil work they've ever done. I give that to "Diabolic Impious Evil". But that being said, it is definitely the heaviest lyrically. Instead of focusing strictly on Satan, The Antichrist, and demonic sex rituals, they focus more on a destroyer element. Things like regicide, the apocalypse, annihilation, etc., are the main themes of "In Extremis".
When it comes down to it all, "In Extremis" is a devastatingly heavy album. The production is tweaked just right, so that it's always loud and chaotic, without getting overbearing, and also without one production element ever drowning out another. That, combined with the lyrical content, from start to finish, it's just one pulverizing track after another. There's little to no reprieve at any point, and only one or two decreases in bpm, but even those don't last very long before you're thrown right back into it. A six year wait for an extreme metal release has never been so worth it, and it definitely has me eagerly awaiting any future releases from my new favorite titans of blackened death metal.
Favorite tracks: "Venomous Tears", "The Slain God", and "The Triumph Of Ascending Majesty".
