I own everything of theirs except this one, but that’ll be rectified soon enough, and this Greek band is always melodic and somewhat sinister in their compositions giving me chills and also sending my heart pumping hot blood into overdrive as their sound is HUGE!!!!! For me, “The Haunted in Hell” suite was the final nail in my coffin, I was hooked and reeled in by that point and wriggling around on their hooks throughout the duration of that opus. The dramatic, melodic, and devious atmospheres felt heavily throughout their catalogue sounds as if it’s even stronger than ever with this 2011 release. This is one that requires attention, so if folks think that metal is somewhat stale and that droves of black metal, retro thrash, and hardcore influenced forms are all that is left, then Heathendom is that special listen you’ve been waiting for.
With The Symbolist, the band displays a spellbinding mix of thrash/chugging/spiraling riff and rhythm assault that really drives this album into your consciousness like the heat of a newly fired bullet speeding through inches of your flesh and bone. There’s a great circular rhythmic feel throughout the entire album, giving a whirlpool effect as you spiral down into this dramatic horror tale of doom and despair, it’s damn near impossible not to listen to the whole album all at once because of that hypnotic pull.
The vocals remain high and mighty, horror inducing, intense, and masterfully switching between the highs, a middle tone, and some lower tones to really emphasize the atmosphere and dynamics of each storming track. Think of the versatility of King Diamond, John Arch, Messiah Marcolin…that massive and undeniably distinct vocal sound that’s classic and always good for triggering the opening of all of the millions of pores on your bodies surface.
The overall combination of leads and rhythm yields a massive and heavy hazy effect where the whole swarms and hovers over you like a dense wet fog over the long abandoned castle of some sadistic count under a blood moon. Although heavy on atmosphere, the album as a whole can rival even King Diamond for theatrics and pounding heavy metal. The melodies are a great accompaniment, but seriously this one really grabs you by the throat from the word “go” and you say have no say in the matter. Aggressive, melodic, and epic metal like this is not something you can just create, it takes real skill and passion for what you do and is the stuff that makes classics and Heathendom is a modern day classic. This one goes really nice alongside the newest Helstar for quenching a classic melodic metal thirst with a nice kick in the crotch for those who like some aggression and malice on their palette.
All audio and band info can be found on the MoM site at: http://www.metal-on-metal.com/home.html
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