A new project from Hecate Enthroned.
It took seven years for Nigel Dennan (guitar, Defod), Dylan Hughes (bass), Andy Milnes (guitar), Pete White (keyboards), Joe Stamps (vocals, Ba’al), and Matt Holmes (drums, Sidious) to bring us their seventh album, The Corpse of a Titan, A Lament Long Buried, in collaboration with M-Theory Audio.
We enter the beast’s lair with Adar Rhiannon, a mysterious introduction where only the keyboards wander at first before a female voice emerges, followed by a visceral scream on Spirits Stir Within Our Ancestors’ Tombs, the opening track where distortion already envelops us in its veil of darkness before suddenly bursting into flames. The onslaught is striking, effortlessly sweeping us away in its tide of darkness and violence that rages for a long while before finally letting us catch our breath, but, the hurricane unsurprisingly returns to strike, making the most of its majestic touches before leading into The Arcane Golem, which immediately plunges us back into its oppressive atmosphere. The track makes the most of its length to let its introduction settle in before launching into full force, always supported by imposing keyboards while the rhythm section rages on, at times adopting catchy and almost playful tones that contrast with the vocalist’s screams, especially in the final which leads into Steed of the Still Water and its ethereal melancholy. It’s disrupted by the roaring in the background, then by the distortion that takes over again, delivering a devastating Old School sound that rages on until it gives way to a much softer piano that becomes a hypnotic touch on Pwca, the next track. While the beginning is fairly slow and allows us to catch our breath as we marvel at it, the clean vocals add a ghostly touch before letting the guitar lead us into darkness and growls, then on to Deathless in the Dryad Glade, which returns to its unsettling tones for a minute before surrendering once again to majestic violence. It’s a true pleasure to find ourselves once again buried under this dark and virulent wave that crashes in with a roar, delivering a relentless, massive sound before turning menacing on A Gallery of Rotting Portraits, the next track, which immediately takes over to ensure continuity before introducing some quite elaborate orchestral passages. The track then takes on a grandiose quality, but eventually gives way to The Boreal Monastery and its initial gentleness which is quickly replaced by a new wave of intoxicating violence, where the keyboards play a crucial role by adding the most ethereal touches, and even guide us through the long final toward Into a Vale of Endless Snow, where the riffs explode once more, offering us, for this final composition, a spectacle of grandiloquent fury to which every instrument contributes fully, only surrendering at the very last moment.
I didn’t expect Hecate Enthroned to resurface from the depths, but this new album comes at just the right time to face the summer. The Corpse of a Titan, a Lament Long Buried is as cold as it is majestic, and its violence will leave a lasting impression on more than a few listeners.
95/100