Patristic is a side project of Hideous Divinity guitarist Enrico Schettino. The band name comes from the study of early Christian writings and scholars, and the album name comes from instructions given to a person in preparation for a Christian baptism. He is joined by drummer Nicolàs Petri (Chronic Hate, Mass Carnage, Hellion) and vocalist Lorenzo Sassi (Frostmoon Eclipse, Liber Null, ex-Winterpath).
Unlike the brutal Italian technical death metal of Hideous Divinity, Patristic offers a different musical experience. Patristic is more of a black/death metal sound that comes across as a blend of older Behemoth, Poland’s Hate, Aosoth, and Deathspell Omega. It’s discordant, but still structured and majestically, and theistically virulent.
And while this is Schettino’s project, I have to say, drummer Nicolàs Petri steals the show, as Catechesis is one of the few albums I’ve listened to recently where the drums tangibly caught my ear, and was the focus of my attention when listening to the album. It really stands out, and I want to check out his work in his other bands, as I’m not familiar with them.
Schettino and Sassi, of course, are no slouches. Schettino delivers razor-sharp riffs that differ from his more tech death, Hidious Divinity stylings, but still with an earthier tone (from Italian super producer Stefan Morabito). And Sassi has a shouted sort of Nergal-ish bellow that isn’t your normal black metal rasp, keeping things a bit more death metal still.
The album’s 41 minutes are best listened to as a single experience as every track bleeds seamlessly into each other, with the 6 songs split into “A Vinculis Soluta” I and II and “Catechesis” I-VI, and while the influences listed above are all tangible, Aosoth seems the bleed through most of the material, especially when the songs take a little more ambient, ritualistic, atmospheric intros, (i.e. “A Vinculis Soluta I “, “Catechesis I”) injections as well as some light keyboards/strings. There aren’t many, but they are effective as transitions between songs and within songs.
So then, that means singular tracks don’t stand out, as the whole album is simply outstanding. But certainly “Catechesis I” (where Schettino’s tech death chops certainly show at 5:33), the menacing lurch of the mid-section and subsequent killer riff in “Catechesis II”, and more moody, album closer “Catechesis IV” are worth extra attention.
Another killer release from Willowtip in 2025’s first half, along with Dormant Ordeal, Ominous Ruin, Unmerciful, and Dessiderium.
