Strychnos – Armageddon Patronage
Release Date: 17th May 2024
Label: Dark Descent
Bandcamp
Genre: Blackened Death Metal
FFO: Behemoth, Deus Otiosis, Belphegor.
Review By: Jeff Finch
With as much music out there in the world today, sometimes it’s those albums, those bands, even those songs, that just bring a genuine intensity that stick out the most. Full of Hell, Job for a Cowboy, Knocked Loose; just a few bands this year that have brought an onslaught of unapologetic heaviness and left their indelible mark on the metal genre. Let’s add another to that list today, as we discuss Copenhagen death metallers, Strychnos, arriving with their second full length, an album that brings blackened ferocity that feels pulled straight from the best of Behemoth.
Interestingly enough, outside of knowing about their first album, I’ve heard very little about Strychnos. Perhaps this is just due to my location, that they’re only on their second full length, or that I haven’t ventured out far enough, who knows. All this to say, after listening to this new record, Armageddon Patronage, it’s easy to see why others have been screaming from the rooftops about this band: they’re phenomenal. Opener Winds Warning the Final Storm features crushing mid-tempo guitars, strummed so hard and so ferociously those elongated notes they leave behind work to deepen the caustic atmosphere of the track, as a sitar is introduced, strikingly similar to the soundscape in Metallica’s Wherever I May Roam, and just as effective, while our lead vocalist produces a viciously deep guttural that would make Nergal proud. Following up, and continuing the aural onslaught, is the title track Armageddon Patronage, which features furiously downpicked guitars, blast beats, and unrepentant anger from the lead vocalist, at point reaching the higher end of his register, damn near demonic. Continuous tempo shifts greet the listener at every corner, from mid-tempo riff fests to slower sections of contemplation, shifting to a lesser degree of anger with some pummeling drum fills thrown in for effect, a well-placed, shredding solo overcoming a bit of the maelstrom while enveloping the listener in layers of dissonance, battered at every angle.
Slow build-ups with palpable atmosphere and tension pepper Choking Salvation and Endless Void Dimension, foreboding in nature when coupled with those long, lingering, despondent notes, leading into visceral shrieking from the vocalist, the shifting tempos jarring. Each track finds a way to up the intensely dark, shrouded nature of these tracks, the former featuring the deeply unsettling sound of girls screaming and a chant of ‘choking salvation,’ while the latter brings clean vocals into the mix, an excellent transition from the unwavering heaviness, akin to Ukrainian juggernauts 1914, which feels as though it’s bringing on the end of times after the visceral vocals experienced thus far.
In comparing the band briefly to 1914, Stanken af Dyd feels perfectly at home, the opening sounds leading us into battle, tribal drum beats complementing a head nodding riff among excellent cymbal work before the inevitable onslaught, tremolo riffs taking center stage as our drummer works the cymbals and double bass to perfection. The blistering pace is offset by moments of mid-tempo chugs, while the previously heard chanting comes roaring back, coupled with the screaming, eerily cult-like in sound.
Our closing track Nattevandrerinden works in tandem with its immediate predecessor, focusing on slower paced atmospheric tracks that have an undeniably ‘epic’ feel to them; very akin to the Behemoth track O Father O Satan O Sun in its deliberate pace, but breaking into segments of pure aggression, blast beats and tremolo riffs roaring back into the picture. The melodies are excellent, the solo breaking through the mix as the drummer destroys his kit, the dissonance of the riffs, drums, and solo a cacophony of chaos, an air of desperation, as the song abruptly ends with the sounds of gusting winds.
Don’t let the comparisons to Behemoth, in spite of their excellent discography, make you think this is just a knock-off. No, Strychnos is their own beast in blackened death metal; the unfettered aggression from all angles, the ability to shift tempos and time signatures at the drop of a hat, the little nuanced soundscapes sticking out from among the maelstrom, this band is carving their own path in the European death metal scene, a group that should be known the world over, as their obvious focus on quality over quantity has provided the metal world with two excellent releases that display ferocity mixed perfectly with melody.
(4.5 / 5)
