Reviewed - 03/10/06
Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator
[Procon Media]
I don't remember the last time I heard a great band that hailed from Portugal. There was of course Moonspell, but they haven't been "great" for many years now. And then I got a kickass demo about ten years ago by a band called Tortua, but to my knowledge that band sadly never made it past the demo stage. And of course I imagine that there's a ton of great Portuguese bands I'm either forgetting about or haven't heard of, but the bands from this country don't seem to come my way too often. I'm sure as hell glad Filii Nigrantium Infernalium has though, as their debut full length album "Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator" is in a word: Phenomenal!
Looking at the cover art for this C.D., I swore I was in for some super raw Blackened Metal that I probably wouldn't care too much for. I was both right and wrong. I was right that it was a bit raw Black Metal in style, but wrong that I wouldn't like it. I loved it! The music on "Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator" is about seventy percent Thrash Metal, twenty percent Traditional Metal, and ten percent Black Metal. The guitars, drums and bass have this big time 1980's lilt to them with just a slight Black Metal edge that kicks ass to hear. The Thrash aspects reminds me of bands like old Dark Angel, old Agent Steel and Exodus' "Bonded By Blood". It just rules to hear this style of music played this well coming from a band's debut album. The musicianship on this album I would put up against any other Thrash band out there. You just don't see many bands where every single person that is a member seems to be great, but Filii Nigrantium Infernalium is just such a band. There's a lot of those guitar "squeals" used within this album, as well as some heavy riffing and kickass leads and solos. The best part of the whole album though is the drumming, which even after I've heard this album three times now I still can't believe this is a human drumming! Not only is he fast, but he's extremely varied. He's like the Neal Pert of Black Thrash Metal! Damn, this album is good! To spice things up, you'll find a few short and odd ambient samples scattered throughout the album. There's also this cool little Folky outro done with what sounds like some sort of tin whistle that puts a smile on this Folk Metal fans face.
Okay, the vocals are where things get real interesting. BTHZR, the vocalist, sounds frigging insane! I usually don't like these out of control styled vocals, but he makes it work. He sounds like an exact cross between Varg Virkines and Landfermann, the vocalist on Bethlehem's "Dictius Te Necare". He just shrieks with so much fury that I'm surprised his vocal chords are still intact! To tell you the truth, while there are some B.M. influences within the music on this album, most of the Black Metal aspect comes from these vocals. No matter if the music is being played in a more subdued way, in a Thrash vein, or in a more Traditional Metal style, the vocals are always over the top. Sweet! There's also a few nice female vocals on here which just makes the whole album sound that much more insane. A few Death Metal styled grunts are to be found, but this style is used so sparingly that it's not hardly worth mentioning. I can't comment on what the lyrics are about as they were not included with this promo I got, but the vocals are done so well that I could care less what the lyrics revolve around.
For being a fairly unknown band on a label I have never heard of, they managed to get an impressive sound on their C.D. They have a better production on this debut album of theirs than some other bands have on their tenth albums.
The packaging for this album I can't really comment on as all that was sent to me was the front and back covers. The cover though has evil demonic imagery and is done quite well for a computer generated cover. The band's logo is as hard to decipher as their band name is to pronounce, though! All of the text on the two covers is written backwards, so get your mirrors handy when you buy this one!
While technically a Thrash Black album, "Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator" will definitely appeal the most to Thrash fans. And to those of you who call themselves a fan of that genre, you absolutely must get this album now! Don't think that this is just another album mixing mediocre Thrash with even more mediocre Black Metal, because this is top notch music that is helped to be unique by some of the best vocals I've heard in quite some time.
[Procon Media]
I don't remember the last time I heard a great band that hailed from Portugal. There was of course Moonspell, but they haven't been "great" for many years now. And then I got a kickass demo about ten years ago by a band called Tortua, but to my knowledge that band sadly never made it past the demo stage. And of course I imagine that there's a ton of great Portuguese bands I'm either forgetting about or haven't heard of, but the bands from this country don't seem to come my way too often. I'm sure as hell glad Filii Nigrantium Infernalium has though, as their debut full length album "Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator" is in a word: Phenomenal!
Looking at the cover art for this C.D., I swore I was in for some super raw Blackened Metal that I probably wouldn't care too much for. I was both right and wrong. I was right that it was a bit raw Black Metal in style, but wrong that I wouldn't like it. I loved it! The music on "Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator" is about seventy percent Thrash Metal, twenty percent Traditional Metal, and ten percent Black Metal. The guitars, drums and bass have this big time 1980's lilt to them with just a slight Black Metal edge that kicks ass to hear. The Thrash aspects reminds me of bands like old Dark Angel, old Agent Steel and Exodus' "Bonded By Blood". It just rules to hear this style of music played this well coming from a band's debut album. The musicianship on this album I would put up against any other Thrash band out there. You just don't see many bands where every single person that is a member seems to be great, but Filii Nigrantium Infernalium is just such a band. There's a lot of those guitar "squeals" used within this album, as well as some heavy riffing and kickass leads and solos. The best part of the whole album though is the drumming, which even after I've heard this album three times now I still can't believe this is a human drumming! Not only is he fast, but he's extremely varied. He's like the Neal Pert of Black Thrash Metal! Damn, this album is good! To spice things up, you'll find a few short and odd ambient samples scattered throughout the album. There's also this cool little Folky outro done with what sounds like some sort of tin whistle that puts a smile on this Folk Metal fans face.
Okay, the vocals are where things get real interesting. BTHZR, the vocalist, sounds frigging insane! I usually don't like these out of control styled vocals, but he makes it work. He sounds like an exact cross between Varg Virkines and Landfermann, the vocalist on Bethlehem's "Dictius Te Necare". He just shrieks with so much fury that I'm surprised his vocal chords are still intact! To tell you the truth, while there are some B.M. influences within the music on this album, most of the Black Metal aspect comes from these vocals. No matter if the music is being played in a more subdued way, in a Thrash vein, or in a more Traditional Metal style, the vocals are always over the top. Sweet! There's also a few nice female vocals on here which just makes the whole album sound that much more insane. A few Death Metal styled grunts are to be found, but this style is used so sparingly that it's not hardly worth mentioning. I can't comment on what the lyrics are about as they were not included with this promo I got, but the vocals are done so well that I could care less what the lyrics revolve around.
For being a fairly unknown band on a label I have never heard of, they managed to get an impressive sound on their C.D. They have a better production on this debut album of theirs than some other bands have on their tenth albums.
The packaging for this album I can't really comment on as all that was sent to me was the front and back covers. The cover though has evil demonic imagery and is done quite well for a computer generated cover. The band's logo is as hard to decipher as their band name is to pronounce, though! All of the text on the two covers is written backwards, so get your mirrors handy when you buy this one!
While technically a Thrash Black album, "Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator" will definitely appeal the most to Thrash fans. And to those of you who call themselves a fan of that genre, you absolutely must get this album now! Don't think that this is just another album mixing mediocre Thrash with even more mediocre Black Metal, because this is top notch music that is helped to be unique by some of the best vocals I've heard in quite some time.
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Tracklist:
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| Rating: 9/10 | |
| Release Date: 2005 | |
| Length: 45:21 | |
| Review By: Britton Dicks | |
| Total Reviews: (1) | |
| Band's Website: Go Here | |
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