Building on the success of their second album, Viscera, Strigoi unveil a further five tracks on a new EP: Bathed In A Black Sun.
Created during the Viscera writing session by Gregor Mackintosh (guitar/vocals, Paradise Lost), Chris Casket (bass, Devilment, Eastern Front, ex-Extreme Noise Terror), Guido Zima (drums, The Secret, ex-Implore) and Ben Ash (guitar, Satyricon live, ex-Carcass), the EP is also released on Season of Mist.
The band kicks off with Bathed In A Black Sun, the eponymous title track, whose dissonance immediately suffocates us before being supported by heaviness and the vocalist’s massive howls. The track’s slowness and orchestrations perfectly serve the oppression and darkness developed by the thick mix, then The Grotesque brutally accelerates with furious riffs and a devastating blast, letting the band’s Grind/Crust influences express themselves at full speed in the company of tortured leads. A similar approach is taken on the very short Beautiful Stigmata, where forty seconds of pure rage lead into A Spear of Perfect Grief, which starts off heavy before offering a more energetic rhythm, complemented by piercing harmonics over which Greg‘s rocky vocals create a striking contrast. The EP comes to a close with The Construct of Misery, which stomps merrily along with a filthy, greasy rhythmic pattern and impressive double kick, followed by final visceral howls.
Although unknown to date, the few tracks on Bathed In A Black Sun now seem indispensable to Strigoi‘s discography. They sound like their recent second album, Viscera, but have their own personality.
85/100