Acolyte-A Disciple Left in Darkness album. FFO: Gravelly, Acidic and glorious Black Metal.

 

Acolyte-A Disciple Left in Darkness album. FFO: Gravelly, Acidic and glorious Black Metal.

As I have strongly repeated, Australia has some of the best metal bands in the world and regardless of genre; we really excel at particularly extreme metal. Acolyte is a Black Metal band/ project made by members of a doom metal band and is based in Lismore, NSW. And this isn't your run of the mill generic copy of the BM masters-this has depth, warmth and so many dimensions to this great album. There is mostly excellent straight black metal on this release as well some articulate modern variations of this; with blackened and death metal twists. The vocals are crushing, but not over the top and the riffs are substantial, thick and weighty. Please also the majority of this release is one guy, except for the addition of drums. Now that's wild as hell. Also, the atmospheric synth touches were spot on and far from the cheesy variation on most black metal albums. Each track builds onto the next and this album works best as a whole document; whilst individual tracks are still as enjoyable as hell. But this great soundtrack to madness flows well, it's as dynamic as it is dissonant. All eight tracks are killer, but here were my highlights in no particular order. Enter Acolyte is a monolithic track in its storylike delivery and the grim cloud that dominates this track-this had some mad tempo changes and the echo-like vocals were astonishing.  Beheaded is just absolute war in a track, and an opening beast with equal portions of mood, aggression and utter psychosis. This definitely sets the pace and tone for this album. Visions Within seems to contain every fantastic moment from every Black Metal classic track you have ever worshipped and is a slow-burning earworm. The Tower is like a horror movie where all the demons are released from some evil box and scaring the bejesus out of you-this is so atmospheric and downright terrifying as hell. Plus it has some sick arse raw thrash parts that are awesome. Skull Risen is a huge highlight in many ways; a powerful intro that leads into a hammering riff, well actually quite a few monstrous ones of weight. Then I loved how it moves into classic death metal, then goes atmospheric, then aggressive with spine chilling synths and blood-curling vocals, then changes yet again for a sinister ending of perfection. Yes, this track fits so much into its 6.29 min duration. Ashes, the album closer showcases just how skilled this band is and this immense track is suffocating, saturating and absolutely destroys you by its end. Not sure if was just the main guitar work, the forbidding tone or the psychotic way the track drifts into noise; but I adored it. These were my fave tracks today, but in summary, it's one of the best black metal albums I have heard in many years. It's raw, yet produced perfectly and all the elements it excels in really drills into your head what excellent Black Metal is. This is cliche free, heavy as fuck extreme metal made by brilliant musicians (well mostly one person!!!) who understand quality composition, clinical placement of riffs and pure aggression. This is an amazing album.

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