SepticFlesh – "Modern Primitive"

Yeah, I can't agree with myself on where to rank SepticFlesh on the scale of Greek export products. I'm not sure where I'd place them compared to moussaka and Rotting Christ; I definitely prefer philosophy and democracy over them, but I think I might prefer them over Retsina and Metaxa.

So anyway. Their last album, 2017's "Codex Omega", seems to be a bit of a fan favorite, at least judging from the ratings at Metal Archives. And judging from the reviews I've seen of "Modern Primitive", their latest, 11th long-player, its predecessor might be getting some competition.

I can kinda understand why. SepticFlesh have a pretty unique sound. There are other symphonic death metal bands, sure, but in a nutshell, this is the heavy one. And if you haven't heard them before, you'll be able to hear it pretty much right away when you hook yourself up with "Modern Primitive".

To get it outta the way up front, the proverbial thing is, I'm not remembering a lot here. Even after several spins. SepticFlesh rely a lot on the atmosphere provided by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra – and this time, they're also accompanied by a children's choir.

"Neuromancer" has the distinct vibe of Morbid Angel's "Where the Slime Live", but with the sound of a latter-day Dimmu Borgir, and the straightforward attitude of a Tiger tank.

And... well, it does work. The atmosphere is intense and bombastic all the way. But it's not until around midway that the tracks start to stand out. "Neuromancer", which seems to be based on one of my favorite novels, has the distinct vibe of Morbid Angel's "Where the Slime Live", but with the sound of a latter-day Dimmu Borgir, and the straightforward attitude of a Tiger tank.

It's not as dissonant and ugly as a lot of other death metal; it's bold, clear, and sharp. The warm, thick guitar sound is even kinda gentle on the ears. But that doesn't make it any less metal, which is especially apparent in the stressingly tense machine-gun blastfest of "Coming Storm". Everything here is controlled chaos, theatrically dramatic brass instruments alongside growl, choir, and guitarist Sotiris Vayenas' distinct clean vocals. And speaking of which, main vocalist Spiros Antoniou gets too little credit for his growl, which is both deep and brutal, but at the same time more decipherable than with 9 out of 10 other growlers. Take notes out there.

There's no downright filler here. But apart from the two aforementioned tracks, it's hard to name any real stand-outs. Again: The band does rely a lot on this whole high-ceiling, sometimes even cinematic vibe, and hey, they're damn good at what they do. But I'd still like to hear what they might able to accomplish with only guitar, drums, bass, and vocals, which only happens for a few seconds in "Psychohistory" here.

All in all, though: Solid fucking metal output right there. In fact, SepticFlesh are probably better than Metaxa if I had to pick. Which, for better or worse, I haven't had to yet.