‘Passing the Nekromanteion’ is the fourth EP from Paris-based blackened death metallers Arkhon Infaustus. The band formed in 1997 and, in the intervening years, they have released four full-length albums, as well as a number of EPs and split singles. In the case of ‘passing…’, we say EP, but at some thirty-three minutes in length, this four-track offering is actually longer than some albums, the band using the space to weave a dark, sinister atmosphere around the listener. As with all releases via respected label Les Acteurs De L’Ombre, the EP is strikingly packaged in a handsome digipack with artwork by Came Roy De Rat (who also provided the impressive images that adorned the Heir LP reviewed earlier this month). It makes for an impressive overall package and one that is well worth tracking down.
Ambitious in scope, opening track ‘Amphessatamine Nexion’ emerges from a horrifying cacophony of white-hot feedback and funereal percussion. Just as you start to think you’ve picked up some brutal, experimental drone project (and some minute and a half into the track), the noise coalesces into a searing death parade, Skvm’s relentless battering underpinning the tormented screams and barely coherent riffs of Deviant, the result a swirling maelstrom of hell-bound noise. Offering nothing in the way of accessibility, the music on offer here is somewhat akin to a cross between Autopsy, Cannibal Corpse and Emperor, the effects so punishing in nature that the listener ends up cocooned in a sort of self-protecting numbness where the corrosive riffs eventually wash over them, hypnotising and pulling them ever deeper. Music this brutal is, of course, for a select few, but, survive the opening gambit and you’re into the angular nightmare that is ‘The precipice where souls slither’. With staccato riffs paying scant tribute to the notion of melody, the emphasis here is very much on crafting an atmosphere of frozen torment, although, as the song progresses, a number of impressive timing changes help the piece to unfold over the course of its eight-minute run time, the band even incorporating passages redolent of a more stately era. Third track, ‘yesh le-el yadi’, takes but a moment to build up a tarnished groove that threatens to overwhelm the senses. A tattoo for the undead, the grotesque riffs are backed by impulsive percussion, taking the listener on a forced-march through the very depths of hell itself. It leaves final track, the astounding, ten-minute epic, Corrupted epignosis’, to bring the EP to its startling conclusion. An instrumental track with a strong post-metal vibe, it sees melodies form out of harmonic dissonance and the spaces between notes, the band crafting a tune that chills and beguiles in equal measure. It is a piece of music that stands in contrast to the relentless brutality found elsewhere and it highlights progressive ambitions only hinted at on the first three tracks.
‘Passing the Nekromanteion’ is a perfect example of an EP that is greater than the sum of its parts. Individually, any of the tracks on offer are fine, but put them together and you’re taken upon a dark and sinister journey, with the pay-off being the grandiose finale, the stunning ‘corrupted epignosis’. With its gorgeous artwork and careful attention to detail, ‘Passing the Nekromanteion’ is an album-length EP that underscores the band’s intense sound and wide-eyed ambitions and is highly recommended. 8
