Acrimonious - "Eleven Dragons" (World Terror Committee, 2017)

Band: Acrimonious
Title: Eleven Dragons
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 20th March 2017
Time: 66 min
Rating: 88/100













For me, the Greek black metal is always an uninterrupted and fascinating discovery, also because its bands are able every time to amaze me. These Acrimonious aren't an exception, a great trio (but a quartet 5 years ago with the Swedish vocalist ar-Ra'd al-Iblis), born in 2002, guided since the early days by the singer/guitarist Cain Letifer and composed also, since the 2012 full-lenght titled "Sunyata", of the drummer C. Docre (Thy Darkened Shade's live member) and the guitarist/bassist Semjaza 218 (the mastermind of the same Thy Darkened Shade).Together, they released recently a fantastic third album named "Eleven Dragons", underlining curiously with this title one of the features typical of the albums edited by the German label World Terror Committee considering that many of them contains, in fact, eleven songs.

Said this, "Eleven Dragons", dedicated to the Temple of Black Light and to Templum Falcis Cruentis, is an amazing album close to the "religious" tradition of black metal. In fact, Acrimonious plays a black metal very imaginative and complex characterised principally by long tracks, often unbearable (ultra)-fast tempos but alternating them with slower moments, guitar riffs intertwined so to create a very embracing sound, an excellent basswork, and a guttural vocal performance, typical of the Greek black metal, of the same Cain Letifer. In brief, this kind of black metal is very close to bands like Ascension, Thy Darkened Shade or the early Kult of Taurus (for the most chaotic moments of the album). All these features (and many more, as you will see soon) bring to 11 songs very different between them so to keep always high the attention of the listeners despite we are talking about an album that lasts even 66 minutes.

To mention some songs as examples (also if I will surely do an almost complete track-by-track, as the usual...), the long opening track "Incineration Initiator" comes to my mind thanks to its 9 minutes with an interminable intro full of arpeggios before becoming a very fast assault with some totally hysterical riffs. Or "Damnation's Bells", that opens with a death bell even for a black/thrashing massacre worthy of the better Bathory of the seminal "Under the Sign of the Black Mark", containing also one of the few guitar solos of the album while other thrash metal influences are perceptible into the conclusive "Thaumitan Crown". Absolutely to mention is "Elder of the Nashiym" (where there are the whispers of the guest Dymadiel), soaked of a very strong epic feeling due even to some melodic heavy metal riffs that you can listen to also in songs like the mid-tempo of "Litany of Moloch's Feast" (that ends in a total fury connecting itself directly with "Thaumitan Crown"). But surprisingly, there is "Kaivalya", a kind of black metal ballad totally instrumental since its long acoustic intro full of "romantic" tones. Finally, here you are the slow "Stirring the Ancient Waters", a lugubre track embellished by the guest vocalists J.S. and CTN 358.

So, the general result, supported by a dark production, bring to a monumental album made of a religious black metal with some heavy and thrash metal influences. I think that these ones are due to the early days of Acrimonious when its first inspirations came from bands like Sarcofago, the Hungarians Tormentor (and I would add Bathory) but also from the early Samael and Mayhem. But now this creature named Acrimonius is so grew up to create its own sound strongly devoted to the "Luciferian Illumination".

Tracklist:

1 - Incineration Initiator
2 - The Northern Portal
3 - Damnation's Bells
4 - Satariel's Grail
5 - Elder of the Nashiym
6 - Kaivalya
7 - Qayin Rex Mortis
8 - Ominous Visions of Nod
9 - Stirring the Ancient Waters
10 - Litany of Moloch's Feast
11 - Thamithan Crown

Line-up:

Cain Letifer - vocals/guitars
Dymadiel (guest) - whispers
J.S. (guest) - vocals
CTN 358 (guest) - vocals
Semjaza 218 - guitars/bass
C. Docre - drums

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ACRIMONIOUS/114756638618913
World Terror Committee: http://www.w-t-c.org/