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Esoctrilihum – Funeral

esoctrilihum – funeral

Info

Over the course of three reviews, I have delved into the year 2022 and how it moulded and shaped the sound and styling of French solo Black Metal beast, Esoctrilihum. Now 2023 has rolled around and his journey is once more continuing, this time with his ninth full length album entitled simply ‘Funeral’. In my opinion this album comes with the best cover art to date for this project.

As you might assume with a name like ‘Funeral’, this album has progressed on a long and arduous journey away from the torturous blast beat frenzy of seventh album ‘Consecration of the Spiritüs Flesh’.

Despite that progression, even I was not expecting the deeply sorrowful, slow-moving affair that is the opening title track; a song that has deep flowing dark melodies, soaring ambient cavalcades as well as the abrasive harsh guitar leads of old. The vocals are also far more ritualistic and cleaner than on previous offerings and in places this album transcends Black Metal and delves firmly into a more Funeral Doom type soundscape.

With all of that being said, the old Esoctrilihum style is never far from the surface as ‘Annobathysm’ so ably proves, as raw guttural growls and barks take over as does the bands old style of head smashing drum strokes and furious guitar leads.

Just like the last album, ‘Funeral’ is a compelling experience and a varied, bleak, and colossal showcasing of savage French Black Metal with Doom and Dark Ambient influences. 2022 was a tremendously strong year from Esoctrilihum, but on the strength of ‘Funeral’ it would seem this year will surpass it.

Self-Released

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