Review Summary: 7 heads, 10 horns, 4 horsemen and a putrid partridge in a pear tree.
Plenty of metal bands have explored the whole “apocalypse” gestalt and milked it half to death, the same way most Top 40 country artists have at least an album worth of material about what’s in their garage at the moment. This is due to both topics being “evergreen,” always a viable option within their respective genres. As long as the threat of extinction remains, so will the desire to chronicle its inevitable passing. Fortunately there are almost as many ways to write about the end of the world as there are to bring it about.
So what does Bestia Arcana’s sophomore LP bring to the doomsday parade that hasn’t been heard before? In one word: Scale. Few can capture the literal world-ending bombast and spectacle of the apocalypse through an audible medium and make it feel as though the world is crumbling quite like “Holokauston” does. Every piece of the production is spot-on in reflecting a cataclysmic event in the best way possible, thanks in part to members shared with Nightbringer, and makes it easy to forget Bestia Arcana is technically a Naas Alcameth “side project”.
Menthor’s drumming in particular stands out immediately as the driving force behind the mix, rather than the guitar leads or even the vocals, which seem to take the back/shotgun seats respectively to the omnipresent double-bass onslaught. The tempo rarely lets up, and keeps the listener on edge while the guitars leads uncoil and dance amid the tempest, their behavior akin to the ceaseless, whirling patterns of Akhlys’ “The Dreaming I”. That, however, is where the similarities to other Alcameth/Nightbringer projects ends. For better or for worse (depending on one’s preferences) most would not be able to guess based on first impressions this is the product of three people with over a decade invested in another project.
Making absolute certain of this would be the album’s approach to vocals. Rather than sticking to traditional black metal rasps and shrieks demonstrated in previous outings, the screams on “Holokauston” are low in pitch and surprisingly dynamic featuring three different vocalists (Alcameth, Ophis, and T. Kaos of Lucifyre). The result is more poetic recitation or narration than song, as though Behemoth’s Nergal decided to take up public speaking in the world’s largest amphitheater while being swallowed by a kick drum tornado. Again, this is in the best way possible, as the infernal carnival barker approach gives a certain level of placement and accentuates the chaos occurring in the background. While it may be a love/hate relationship for some, the vocal production is such that the deeper, more deliberate speaking pattern perfectly complements the seismic overtones the rest of the mix provides.
As symphonically theatrical as it is relentless, credit is certainly due to Naas Alcameth for stepping outside his usual purview and making what feels to be his best-produced and most ambitious record to date. A record that showcases the bands' great potential and makes a statement about their creative versatility. Something noticeably different and more evolved than the material introduced in the debut, that’s shed its skin and become its own distinct and formidable beast.
