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It must be something with
bands that have a “phis” at the end of their names as with Norwegian
Black Metal Gods Amorphis and now Germany’s answer to technically
skilled death metal practitioners, Apophis.
Apparently named after some type of Serpent God as evidenced by the
lyrical content of the first two tracks both revolving around the
character, “Heliopolis,” the latest from what some may consider
a veteran act is a step above atypical death metal.
Heavy groove and an equally heavy writing perspective, Apophis
combine the best of buried vocals with grandiose guitar chops to become
one of the world’s extreme state of the art death metal artists. Not
unlike what we heard last year from the advanced work of Metal Blade’s
Amon Amarth, Apophis opens a new dimension into what was an
otherwise lackluster music scene.
Of course hailing from Germany, a country that’s spawned the pick
of the litter when it comes to placing music at the forefront of all
else, “Heliopolis” represents a jump out of the past and with
severe complexity offers blazing metal anthems that’ll have you questioning
your own life long faith in the divine.
The disc’s first four tracks will leave you stunned before the band
goes into an all German track called “Ein Meer Aus Tr Nen”
that captures the best moves of the former and just when you think
you’ll get distressed over not understanding the words, don’t sweat
it—you can’t tell the difference anyway. So there we have one of the
pluses of death metal singers, but sadly, some of the deep content
these artists come up with is just mind-bending yet none of it means
a thing without the aid of the lyric booklet.
Dynamic song structures and dazzling guitar work amidst endless mood
changes that ride the rail toward nocturnal emission and visionary
luster makes Apophis’s latest one of the top picks from Pavement’s
growing army of the dead.
Released by Pavement Music.
Website : http://www.pavementmusic.com/
Review By Vinnie Apicella
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