How many bands do you know which have ceased to exist while being at their peak? The French band Arkhon Infaustus is one of them. Ten years after the release of the magnificently filthy “Orthodoxyn” album, we are presented with some new material. Deviant, the only remaining member from the original lineup, is backed by drummer Skvm who is mostly known for his work with Temple Of Baal and The Order Of Apolyon.
The first impression after diving into this 33 minute-long EP is that the band has significantly matured, a lot! Not transpiring the urge for full blasting speed all the time, we witness here a continuation and evolution of the work created in “Orthodoxyn”. It appears that the hiatus time has been beneficial to the creativity and musicianship, since these 4 tracks carry an intense apocalyptic atmosphere. Every single track is different from the others in terms of structure, arrangements and atmosphere. As the songs develop, we can witness the different forms of the beast that is Arkhon Infaustus: things go from strangely peaceful to ritualistic passages. All of this always surrounded by distorted and dissonant chords, dirty feedback, climaxing in a chaotic berserk cacophony which simply blows everything away.
“Amphessatamine Nexion” starts nice and slow, only to evolve into the claustrophobic frantic guitar riffs always supported by the excellently performed drumming section. This song proves to be only a first taste of the many interesting things to come. “The Precipice Where Souls Slither” was logically selected as first released single, once it is the best song on this EP. It’s a fast, furious, unmerciful and simply purely violent. Nonetheless, it also contains a mid-tempo section that will stay in your head for a long time. “Yesh Le-El Yadi” is the “grooviest” song of the record. Once again, its mid-tempo sections work very well. This track will make you close your fist and grind your teeth. Closing the album, “Corrupted Épignosis”, a 10 minutes long masterpiece that doesn’t even need vocals to convey a ritualistic vibe, slowly evolving into some sort of cathartic rite of passage. It is the perfect ending for what feels like a terribly short record.
In overall, this EP shows that Arkhon Infaustus is back and its in its finest form. “Passing The Nekromanteion” is the appetizer of what we hope will come soon as the band’s best full length ever. A magnificent return, and if you missed this, this is one of the best records of 2017.
9/10
About Arkhon Infaustus
Review by Filipe Gomes
Managing Editor: Elsa Marques
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