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ACHERONTAS
Faustian Ethos

Agonia (2018)
Rating: 8/10

Although black metal by design, there’s always been so much more to this unusual, atmospheric Greek extreme metal act.

Formed in what seems an age ago in 2007 by Acherontas V.Priest (formerly of Stutthof and Nihasa), I’m rather shocked to realise that this new release is the seventh studio effort alongside a bucket load of split projects, an EP and a live opus. Just like all those albums, Faustian Ethos provides enough dark twists and turns to keep the listener engrossed.

This is very much thinking man’s black metal; a composition consisting of numerous layers of intelligence, and a myriad of tempos and occult melodies. The record unfolds like an ancient script, whereby its words and images literally tumble from the browning pages to form eight texts driven by a constant melodious guitar sound and those deep, slurping vocal commands.

Within that framework slithers clever percussion, precise rhythms and an overwhelming feeling of cold cosmic majesty that we can only scratch the surface of by diving into opening cut ‘Τhe Fall Of The First Pillar’ with its hasty pulse and then darker, brooding passages. The track, just like the rest of this intelligent record, exudes an arrogance that hints at say Emperor in their late 90s swagger, whereby the heartbeat of the procedure seems to stem from that scathing yet crisp guitar sound. That crisp guitar sound constantly worms and schemes to accommodate the fluttering drums, and yet this is not what I’d consider a grim record. Acherontas instead ply us with esoteric values and deep, hidden forces that we are able to get drunk on but never fully understand.

Faustian Ethos is a very accessible black metal opus, and yet for me it took a handful of listens before I could fully appreciate the grandeur within. The hissing cymbals signal the unravelling of ‘Sorcery And The Apeiron’ before the foundations of chanted vocals and streaking guitar are laid, and then shift toward that constant pace and ghoulish, yet precise splendor.

I can’t deny that as the suspenseful and ritualistic ‘Aeonic Alchemy’ throbs into action, I feel as if I’ve stumbled into some vast cavern of a secret coven, and I’m peeping from behind great marble pillars with mixed feelings of dread and excitement. ‘Aeonic Alchemy (Act I)’ again provides that continual melodious strain which in turn allow the vocals to skirt and flit of their own accord, unless the pace quickens to a classic black metal niftiness. Difficult it is then to just pluck favourite tracks from what is essentially a maze of barbs and thorns that claw you in but so rarely draw blood.

Instead, Faustian Ethos is somewhat hypnotic with its steely gaze; slower tempos are thought-provoking, measured and yet catchy, but the pacier ingredients do at times bring an air of predictability. After all, there’s only so much you can do with that familiar black metal spiky rush. With that being said, it’s always a welcome tumult when Acherontas slow to mesmerizing sectors and divide their overall structure up, as with ‘The Old Tree And The Wise Man’ and the excellent ‘The Alchemists Of The Radiant Sepulchre (Act II)’ with its haunting introduction and then eventual deep rolls which marry black speed and twinkles of harmony. It’s a theme throughout though, and wrapped up nicely with ‘Vita Nuova’, which provides some jarring zones while brimming with eerie, chanted vocalizations.

For all of its dark, blazing energy and grandeur, Faustian Ethos is a very tidy dish, and where they go with their next release is something I can’t wait to behold.

Neil Arnold

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