ALBUM REVIEW: Ataraxy – The Last Mirror

Spanish Death Metal masters ATARAXY are back with their 3rd album. Set for release via Me Saco Un Ojo Records and Dark Descent Records on June 17th.

Monolithic doomy riffs open the atmosphere with a charnel, eerie atmosphere that instantly picks up where Ataraxy left off, laying down monstrously creepy, lumbering Death Metal. Booming drums ring out through the riffs and punctuate the tension with a hammering double kick soon ensuing. Gloomy leads further this into even more haunting grounds and with that we have been introduced, no meagre warning, just splendid music from the onset. The spectral blend of cleaner and more distorted guitars is chilling and yet retains that crushing heaviness, a sound that can be traced back to the likes of Abhorrence and never loses its impact. The vocals feel extremely raw and emotive, almost desperate, which adds to the legitimately ferocious and dark sound of the record. Powerfully churning forth such magnificently intense Death Metal from the very beginning, this record promises to be some of the most excellent music to date from Ataraxy, whose blend of cavernous and barbaric Death Metal with emotive, doomy and creepy visions is absolutely unique and brilliant.

Never resting, the atmospherics seem to reach a peak before exploding into either ecstatic and rabid bouts of heightened aggression or further into a sepulchral slumber of dread-riddled darkness. Nothing moves predictably and the masterful songwriting moves at its own pace without becoming repetitive, but also keeping those strong moments going enough to build a palpable tension. This middle-ground is clearly the work of refining and scaling songs down into their perfect form without taking the “it’s good enough” attitude at any hurdles. Looking at songs like “The Bell That Constantly Sounds” which really drags out into a sprawling and morbid opus, the way it is delivered doesn’t feel boring, it still has that extremity while building huge anticipation. Following it is the far more urgent and direct “Decline”, which by contrast feels completely feral and a bit more technical, while still moving within the realms of very old school and shadowy sounds. Ataraxy’s palette for painting a lucid and terrifying yet beautiful picture is a smörgåsbord of all things macabre and horrific, allowing their diverse sound to move freely and very organically though realms of eldritch horror.

Sometimes more atmospheric Extreme Metal albums can sort of fizzle out after the first half, this is caused by the emphasis on atmosphere overriding the actual Metal component, so that when this veil is peeled back, it is a hollow space beneath. Ataraxy, on the other hand, build their foundations as an unwavering and unbreakable slab of Death Metal that is then built upon with layers of charnel, obscure murk and gloom. The production is absolutely massive which allows the melancholy moments to leave you floored by the sheer weight before ravaging your carcass with the scathing onslaughts of heaviness that often follow like a rabid dog behind a zombified master. Up until the closing moments, this album remains unpredictable and triumphant in every facet. No song feels out of place, all are an essential piece of the mysterious album and bring something special to the table, that really takes shape when listened to in its entirety, ideally many times due to all of the nuanced secrets to be found. Let us hope “The Last Mirror” is not the bands final album, but as always an ultimate in high quality, doomy Death Metal.

A band like Ataraxy moves from strength to strength, never releasing the same album twice nor betraying their core sound. This is another gloomy and monumental chapter of Death Metal excellence from one of Spains finest. A brutal and funereal blend that is phenomenal to witness as its lumbering, lurking cacophonies of savagery and sombreness unfurl before you.