ATREXIAL – Souverain

Atrexial are a trio coming from (these days sadly famous) Catalonia and more precisely from Barcelona. Although members already have experiences of activity in other more or less known local bands, the moniker reviewed here is new within the scene and it debuted with its first full length: a work entitled "Souverain", sponsored by Godz Ov War Productions and presented by a cover depicting some grotesque and deformed entity.

"Enthronement" is a dark introduction and is filled with a disturbing atmosphere whose purpose is actually only to pave the way for the coming on the scene of a sound immediately recognizable as a mixture of Black Metal and Death Metal, a well tested and functional match. The stylistic cues come both from Central Europe (Poland in particular) and Sweden, redirecting the Atrexial influences to a long list of names, but following coordinates immediately recognizable by anyone with a minimum of familiarity with the genre.

The music here contained is muscular and dynamic, dark and violent, massive as it should be, however without giving up on the sinister and majestic fascination of well-finished melodic implants. On the wings of sulfur and compact tracks we fly over battlefields scattered with mutilated bodies and mangled creatures, where demonic executioners break bones and sacrifice enemies in the name of some powerful infernal abomination.

In its wholeness the album works well: the tracks are solid and — despite lasting just under an hour — the album flows smoothly, without slipping in an excessive repetitiveness and without leaving empty spaces, within which you would otherwise feel the infiltration of a physiological boredom. Of course, I am not presenting you a particularly brilliant album, but in any case the tracklist is relatively varied and engaging.

There’s no shortage of the most pressing and barefaced constructions ("Under The Scourge Of Lamashtu", "Shadows of The Nephilim Throne") nor more morbid episodes ("Unmerciful Imperial Majesty", "The Ominous Silence") in which ,behind the curtain of aggression, lurks a more marked attention in respect to atmospheres with a poison and archaic taste, as well as the desire to convey that sense of obsessive and baleful decadence you cannot really do without.

This debut is a product that traces to a path already long and wide beaten by an incalculable number of bands, which makes "Souverain" not as an essential work, neither deprived of some imprecision of course, however absolutely enjoyable, intense and rich. Recommended and highly palatable album for all those who deeply love Black Metal, Death Metal and hybrids between the two genres.