Review: Decipher – Arcane Paths to Resurrection

Review by Sandre the Giant

Shrouded in what looks like a classic antiquity piece of their homeland’s mythology, Greek black/death metallers Decipher are about to launch their debut full length record in April through Transcending Obscurity. Their 2019 demo ‘Of Fire and Brimstone’ gave us hope that the band were going to be the next big thing, let’s see if ‘Arcane Paths to Resurrection’ can fulfil that potential.

‘Chants of the Unholy’ is a barrage of blastbeats, fearsome screams and growls and a killer guitar tone that feels ready to tear the skin from your flesh. There’s something deeply blasphemous about their fiery black metal inspired death metal, but what ‘Lost in Obscurity’ does that I really like is that show now that bands are not afraid to mix in some real melody with their ferocious onslaught, you can now produce multilayered majestic pieces of music without losing that. This is an album full of that, infectious songs that lose nothing of the darkness and intensity. ‘Enslaved to Be’ rumbles with power as classic Greek black metal melody lines skitter across the top of a thick, full powered death metal engine.

That same model reaches its zenith in the superlative ‘Altar of the Void’, almost nine minutes of unadulterated extreme metal glory. Galloping black metal at its best, it begins to descend down into hellish depths where it becomes a slightly dissonant, crawling monstrosity. ‘Penance’ lulls you in with a slow intro before exploding into a fiery race through broken tombstones and burning torches. There is a feeling of the occult lurking in here too despite no overt references to it, just a natural feel of something a little otherwordly. A presence haunts these tracks, adding that urge to look over your shoulder while you submerge yourself in meticulously produced extremity.

Decipher have lived up the hype. ‘Arcane Paths to Resurrection’ is a debut that most bands can only dream about; a self assured, swaggering explosion of black metal, death metal, even dashes of doom in there too. Decipher play with the assuredness of veterans, and ‘Arcane Paths to Resurrection’ is their stand, tattered black flags blazing in the bleak sun. This is fantastic.

https://www.facebook.com/decipherbandgr/

https://deciphergr.bandcamp.com/album/of-fire-and-brimstone

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