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ASTROPHOBOS
Remnants Of Forgotten Horrors

Triumvirate (2014)
Rating: 7/10

Stockholm’s Astrophobos are, thankfully, not just another Swedish extreme metal band intent on aping those old Entombed and Dismember riffs for a fast buck. Remnants Of Forgotten Horrors is the debut full-length album from this talented outfit who combine icy black metal with progressive blackened death metal.

There is certainly a modern, progressive feel about this eight-track opus. The production is crisp, the vocals really do shred the ears and the cold, grating guitars are crystal clear. Admittedly, the drums from session man Fredrik Widigs (The Ugly) can be a tad too “clicky” at times, but overall this is an impressive debut that mixes mid-90s black metal flair with traditional metal too, none more so than on the chilly ‘The Malevolent Firmament’ which is pacey and akin to having barbed wire dragged through your ear canals.

Astrophobos, who’ve been active since 2009, is fronted by bassist Micke Broman and I was turned on to them via their 2010 demo Arcane Secrets which had a strong feel of Dissection throughout.

The opus begins with ‘Soul Disruptor’ which is riddled with melody, and has a real swagger to it, particularly in those frosty vocals of Broman. The track features some foreboding bass lines which are well executed, but I’ve always had an issue with the crisper, more metallic side of black metal having been raised on the real regressive squalid side and those crust-punk hints. So rather quickly this opus does begin to grate, but that’s not to say that it’s not without its qualities. For instance, ‘Detestable Illumination’ is an eight minute doom-laden epic that begins with whining guitar and trudging drums which builds into a stark, yet spiky affair with a streak of traditional metal within its lair.

While ‘His Abysmal Grave’ has a distinctive groove about it, many of you black metal diehards would have heard so much of this stuff before, particularly with the early 90s wave of pretenders. Although to be fair to Astrophobos, it’s nigh on impossible to be overly original in this scene. However, where the band truly get it right is with the gargantuan closer that is ‘Celestial Calamity’, which begins with more scathing, cold, grating guitars and harsh screams of genuine black metal ancestry.

The twin guitar attack of Jonas Ehlin and Martin Andersson are the stars of the show, even if they paint a black metal-by-numbers portrait of icy catacombs and snow-sodden alienation. Although the album lacks variation, ‘Celestial Calamity’ features a killer melody and isn’t afraid to drop the tempo from those often generic black metal riffs, and it’s the one track where I feel I get to know the band, whereas previously I’ve been subjected to and alienated by the harsher climate.

Clearly inspired by the twisted visions of H.P. Lovecraft, Astrophobos have a lot of potential if they can churn out more in-depth material such as ‘Celestial Calamity’ rather than merely exist as distant rasps of familiarity.

Neil Arnold

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