I wish there was a little more mystery in metal because, with some exceptions, so much is out there in the open for everyone to devour. Especially in black metal, so much of what comprises that style is devious and morbid, and knowing exactly who’s in charge and what their agenda is kind of strips away some of the allure.
Black metal power Akolyth do not even have a home country to their name, and while we know the names (sort of) of the spirits involved—Sphere, Ærkun, D.—everything else is left to the imagination. Their second record “Ecstatic Kingdom” is a furious affair, one that feels buried in second-wave ash and interference and that also can be as savage as anything. Over four tracks and 39 minutes, this phantom pulls at your limbs, drags you into freezing torture, and lets you soar with them into the fucking stars.
“A Black Torch” opens awash in feedback before charging into shadowy, raw terrain, howls wrenching amid a storming force that easily envelopes you. The bass tramples as the guitars simmer, the pace continuing to pummel as melodies churn, and creaky howls fry. The leads spill as the pace intensifies, bursting through frozen tundra, spilling into the darkness. The title track has guitars firing, blazing through speedy passages, howls strangling and retching as your flesh blisters. The bass snakes as the guitars bleed into spacious atmospherics, everything pulling back for a spell to infuse oxygen. The track bursts again, relentless power bubbling out of veins, the guitars dominating before coming to a rampaging end.
“To Grow, Flourish and Conquer” basks in melodic leads, a daring pace, and a stormy pull that makes you weightless and vulnerable. Howls gurgle as the leads melt, the playing punishing before hitting a slower tempo and creating a strange hypnosis. It spills out of the other side as destructive as ever, the melodies flooding and turning ashen before blending into oblivion. Closer “Without Light” unfurls with murmuring speaking and a mysterious agenda before things get bloodier. The growls sound shrouded in spots, in your face in others, miasmal guitars making the confusion more pronounced and hypnotic. Guitars spiral and drill as the auras becomes more mesmerizing, floating into drums that deface and sickening growls. The tension continues to build into a bizarre haze, tricking your mind before the hammers fall again, the vocals splatter, and the final bursts send your mind into outer space.
“Ecstatic Kingdom” might, from its title, make you think you’re leaning into something that will lift your spirits, but it’s a bit of a misdirection. The album is packed with sharp-edged, volatile black metal that darkens skies and prepares you for grim tidings. This is an album that originates in the darkness and pulls you in for your own experience in the volatile shadows that lie beyond.
For more on the band, go here: https://akolyth.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://shop.amor-fati-productions.de/en/
For more on the label, go here: https://amorfatiproductions.bandcamp.com/
Meat Mead Metal 