ALBUM REVIEW: Automb – Esoterica

Here I have a review of the debut album from AUTOMB, consisting of members of Morbid Angel and Necrophagia. This album will be released on the 22nd October via Satanath Records. The Paganism themed Black Metal looks like something I will certainly enjoy!

1. Esoterica begins things with some awesome tribal drumming and sampled cricket noises, clean vocals completing the eerie atmospherics and making for a really wonderful, tranquil and stunning introduction to the album. Distorted voices also add a horror edge to it which is an interesting contrast.
2. Horned God kicks right in with monolithic drums and mournful guitars, creating walls of sound that the pained vocals simply soar over. The traditional Black Metal approach is really epically performed and enjoyable with their own unique atmospheric twists. The kick drums are gloriously punchy and add a nice kick to the song which otherwise is very sombre and beautifully written. There are some really classic Dark Funeral vibes to the song that were super intense and brutal! A really killer piece of music!
3. Summoning The Storm is a beautifully put together piece of atmospheric Black Metal, stunning riffs and powerful vocals are laid gorgeously over the intense drums and create a really full on and in your face yet very tranquil and beautiful soundscape. There are plentiful amounts of both old school and modern Black Metal songwriting elements met with very honest yet tight production. This track feels like a perfect balance between various and diverse techniques in the music. There is plenty of catchiness and appeal to the song while still sounding intense and unrelenting, it is both peaceful yet aggressive. Really well written and put together piece of music!
4. Mourned follows up with cascading guitar assaults that are once more, pristinely beautiful. The battery of the drums is so blistering and furious and the growled vocals are really unsettling in the most brilliant way. This is some evidently passionate and cathartic Black Metal, just as the genre was intended to be. There is both excellent depressive elements and also some nice flourishing shreds from Serge, really cool stuff. Overall this song is a bleak, dark and ultimately huge piece of hellish torment. Excellent work!
5. Call Of Hekate creeps in with chilling riffs, and haunting vocals that really set and eerie and melancholic atmosphere. The cold and harsh yet slower, more reserved vibe of the song is certainly very bleak but also played gorgeously. There is a real life within this song that grows and flourishes beautifully and is totally hypnotising. Absolutely astounding track with plenty of killer riffs, epic drum attacks and most of all emotion!
6. Blood Moon furiously drives itself in with brutally aggressive instrumentals that just slay. The hauntingly dark vocals once more rejoining with full throttle. The bombastic chaos of this song is also versatile, flowing into beautiful melodies and much more cold territory once again, the whole piece is elevated by stunning guitar leads which really just make the whole piece soar beautifully. An absolutely gorgeous song that really gives you chills to listen to. This is like a hurricane of darkness on the ears, one of the best tracks of the album and some incredibly unique and original Black Metal!
7. The Forest continues nicely with more assaulting riffs, insane drums and gloriously in your face musicianship that totally obliterates. The devastatingly grim vocals working perfectly with the music and its phenomenally perfect production. I am still in awe of how well this all flows together, the song itself and the album as an overall work of art. The song title is very apt, this is great hiking music if you want something with some aggression and bite for a woodland stroll. The eccentricities of the atmosphere are tranquil yet full of force. The bass tone absolutely roars through the mix on this song especially. This song will both put you at ease and then bludgeon you at the same time.
8. A Lamentation gives us a gorgeous interval of piano and synths that both adds to the atmosphere beautifully but also lets us take a needed break from the intensity of the music. A good decision from the band that really accentuates the album.
9. Frozen storms into fruition with groovy, menacing instrumentals and grisly vocals that all just violently bring us through the extremities of the music with such precision. The heaviness of this song is equally crushing as the piece is progressive and intellectually written with beautifully played instrumentals, gorgeous vocals and a crystal clear production. Another piece of music that really does feel like it has been fine tuned and practised to perfection. All killer, no filler!
10. Into Nothingness fills into intense Black metal, blast beats really driving through the mix and some excellent riffs too. The song feels nothing like a closing track until the more drawn out riffs suddenly fall into play. The double kicks are really intense and under the slower guitar parts sound really cool. Absolutely mesmerising and dark music with some really original ideas, while the end of the album is here, it does not pussyfoot into slow dull cliches, rather giving one more wonderful piece and really making the most of the listeners time. Great track to close on that was really unique too with some excellent lead work from Serge!

The band may be new but have already carved a great place in the scene, a really cool album to build upon in the future with tons of great ideas I am sure they will continue to expand on. -8.5/10