Sidious - Ascension To The Throne Ov Self

Kaotoxin Records 2013

 

1.Insurmountable Mass 2.Sentient Race 3.Nihilistic Regeneration

4.Ascension To The Throne Ov Self

 

The Debut e.p. from London based black/death metallers Sidious begins in extremely grandiose fashion, the momentum to opener ‘ Insurmountable Mass’ is being built slowly before unleashing an absolute hell storm of blackened brutality. The precision and technical excellence on display is absolute first rate. Imagine Zyklon meets Dimmu Borgir and you get the idea where this five piece are coming from. When the band blasts they do so brilliantly, raging in a torrent of devilish hate. The song does utilise keyboards effectively, comparisons to Dimmu are once again immediate, but that shouldn’t detract from the bands technical excellence and originality. A brutally superb opener! ‘Sentient Rose’ begins where the opening track left off, beginning once again in an absolute brutal rage, the backdrop of the keyboards holding subtly in the background, with no fear of drowning out the rest of the music as can so often be the case with symphonic influenced extreme metal. Vocally, Tom remains rooted firmly in the ‘guttural death metal’ style which really adds depth to the tracks and actually adds atmosphere. He does add screamed backing vocals now and again, but these are used very sparsely here.

‘Nihilistic Regeneration’ begins very differently, melodic guitars play to a backdrop of swirling wind and almost tribal like drum patterns. This doesn’t last for long however, and normal service is resumed when this third track blasts open viciously. It’s not all about the speed with this song, slower tempos are introduced which add a really sinister atmosphere to the cd. The song is broken up well between the different tempos and when  guitar melodies are added to the slower sections it sounds amazing, almost haunting – one to give you goose-bumps! Closing this short e.p. is the title track, ‘Ascension To The Throne Ov Self’ which is actually the longest track, clocking in at exactly five minutes long. This is another master class in brutal, symphonic and atmospheric blackened death metal. The band sounds utterly devastating here, blasting faster and harder than heard in the three previous tracks. The Keyboards play a greater role in this final track and are used to great effect so as to not overpower the track. As the song draws to a close, the pace is dropped to an absolute crawl; the haunting guitar melodies introduced on top of some chanting choir vocals which, again, sounds amazing and a great way to end proceedings. Sidious have introduced themselves to the extreme metal world in absolutely devastating fashion, producing a debut e.p. that highlights five musicians at the top of their game, such is the dizzyingly high standard of music on display, it’s definitely the highlight for UKEM HQ for 2013 so far. Featuring four tracks of blistering blackened death metal that is as good (if not better) as you are likely to hear anytime soon, this comes extremely highly recommended and if you don’t own a copy, you should!

 

9.5 Out of 10

 

Band Page: Here

Buy it: Here