Apolaustic (meaning ‘devoted to enjoyment’) is the new project from former Stortregn vocalist Romain Negro, who departed the Swiss act after 6 albums.
If you are familiar with Switzerland’s Stortregn, then you know they started as a melodic black metal band on albums like Emptiness Fill the Void, but transitioned to a more technical death metal sound on later albums like Finitude.
Well, apparently Negro missed the band’s earlier style, as he has gone back to the more melodic black/death metal stylings of early Stortregn with No Plenitude Without Suffering.
He’s helped out by Merlin Bogado (Dyssebeia) on guitars & bass and Nicolas Muller (Akiavel) on drums to bring his vision to life. It’s a fine album of polished melodic black/death metal with a little nod to the likes of Dissection, Naglfar, etc., and of course Stortregn’s early works, but with a super clean, modern delivery.
There are some really good, enjoyable riffs here and there, such as early highlights like the start of “Testimony of an Obsolescent World” and “Shining Amidst the Lights”, with its light keyboards. As well as a mid-album acoustic break with ” Smells Like Dead Autumn Fire”.
“Black Flame Reviver” begins the album’s back end with a brief saxophone intro, before another fine riff kicks in, and a nice solo ends the track. And closer “Peregrination Towards Childhood Memories” sounds like a classic, more somber 90s melodeath number you might hear on a Gates of Ishtar album, rounding things out on a solid high note.
