It’s safe to say I’ve never heard of Esoctrilihum. I have, however, heard of the bands that were included in the presser FFO… Leviathan, Xasthur, Ruins of Beverast, and Inquisition. But even my familiarity with those bands couldn’t prepare me for what came out of my speakers when I hit play.

This is what Hell would sound like if some brave soul put a microphone down there. A symphony of suffering, and unearthly howls for mercy. That’s what I think Hell would sound like.

From the first blast, Esoctrilihum are on fire… Hellfire, if I may be so bold. Ghostigmatah – Spiritual Rites of the Psychopomp Abxulöm kicks like a pissed off mule from the get go with “Hark! The Bewitched Trumpet of the Red Harbinger Is Calling the Dead to Gather” yeah, that’s the song title… going full on long as fuck song titles that sound like invocations instead of actual song titles. But fortunately, it’s a face shredder, 9:47 minutes of quality Cosmic Black Metal. The battering ram drums like asteroids hitting a distant world.

Being the work of one guy, Asthâghu,l and hailing from France… I love French Black Metal BTW, and Esoctrilihum don’t disappoint me at all. He’s been a busy guy since Mystic Echo from a Funeral Dimension came out in 2017, and ever since then, a niche has been carved out with… wait for it… twelve full-length albums!

“Kneeling Before the Keeper of the Golden Key to the Absolute Void” brings some more shrieking vocals against the backdrop of blasting drums and mind-diddling riffs. It delves a bit into DSBM territory, too, which is perfectly fine.

I love that he switches off between Black Metal sub-genres with ease; one minute and it’s epic, Symphonic Black Metal with “At the Mercy of the Flaming Spear of the Bestial Hierophant” with some nice Anorexia Nervosa flourishes throughout as well as a dip into Satanic Warmaster waters.

Asthâghul really pours out the black ichor of evil for this release. Fortunately, it’s not 2 ½ hours long, so it’s a bit more manageable and easier to digest; this isn’t a slogging mess, though, which is good. It seems like there’s a quality control department that doesn’t let things get too widdly and distant.

“Flesh Pierced by the Blades of Thritônh, Eyes Devoured by Vulth Suidarl, The Giant Fly.” These song titles are the bees’ knees, I swear to fuck. There’s some crazy Furze-style shrieking going on there. The music is angular, like a geometry that shouldn’t work, but it does. The same can be said about “Hypnotic Danse Macabre of the Blind Noctivagants” and “Orgiastic Sacrificial Mass to Conjur Abxulöm, Psychopomp Supreme”. He gets deeper into the weeds with some killer Impaled Nazarene vibes and even switches from solemn atmospheric melodies to a striding Black Metal riff that is fat as fuck and changes the track on the fly.

The production and all that stuff was apparently done by Asthâghul, except for the sick ass artwork… that’s not him. It’s called “Youth Of The Beast” by Alan Brown (Medusawolf). In case you were wondering…

“Saturnal Towers of the Mighty Scarlet Moon Upon the Black Universe” is a ripper, right out of the gate, it’s Satanic Warmaster and Leviathan vibes are on full display, and it goes straight into “The Cosmic Deathbringer Comes, Riding a Bloody Horse of Goshenite” which is another neck-snapping beast of a track.

The last two tracks, “Mauled, Swallowed and Dissolved into Nothingness by the 8-Eyed Psychopomp” and “Supplication of the Veiled Saint from the Secret Book of the Ghostigmatah Rites”, round out the album in grandiose fashion. The former is a raw as fuck Black Metal shredder that once again wears its influences on its sleeves. But it’s the closing track that coalesces the whole thing together. It’s suitably haunting and the perfect closing song.

So even though it’s not a 2 ½ hour love fest, it still is an hour and twenty-three minutes and fifty-two seconds long, and if you love Satanic Warmaster, Furze, Impaled Nazarene, and Teitanblood; I urge you to check this demonic beast out. Get your face shredded, it’s good for the pores.

 

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