• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Thantifaxath are one of those bands that keep their identities secret to add an air of mystery and maybe menace to their works. I could take a pot shot and say it could hide them from critique if their music ends up sucking, but honestly this is far too good for something like that. I was expecting something more depressive from the album cover, and there's some of that on here with the lyrical themes and the oppressive atmosphere, but the music is actually pretty vicious and strange, with much more technical riffing and bizarre song structures than you often see in Black Metal. I've had some friends explain this to me as Technical Black Metal for that reason, and I'd say that's pretty accurate, but it also means that the songs lose some of their identity between all the frantic picking and lurching structures, so while you can spot a Thantifaxath song a mile away, you may be hard-pressed to determine which one it is. They also tend to go on a little longer than they need to, especially on the 11-minute album closer "Lost in Static Between Worlds", but they never quite become dull in spite of that, and the song in question deserves some credit for cutting itself off mid-scream to close the album on an uncomfortable note and actually pulling it off. This isn't quite as powerful as it wants to be, but it's a damn impressive debut that manages the near-impossible task of doing something intricate and different in Black Metal without descending into wanking nonsense. Even years later this remains a fresh and individual release, and if this is any indication, I'd love to see what a sophomore album from these guys would look like. Recommended.