...SIŁA I PIĘKNO MUZYKI TKWIĄ W JEJ RÓŻNORODNOŚCI


..::OPIS::..

'Engraved in Black' to absolutny 'SZCZYT' holenderskiego death metalu!!!

FA


One of the most funny things I recall from those days was that vocalist Corine said in an interview that she disliked the Gorefest debut (Mindloss) only having one new song. When Acrostichon’s “ Engraved In Black” finally came out it also featured…. One new song. And that was “Zombies”. A great song by the way. A lyrical tribute to old horror movies and musically inspired by the likes of Autopsy and Coroner with a touch of hardcore punk backing vocals.

The production (Colin Richardson) was a lot sharper than their demos were. The guitars still sounded heavy but they had so much more definition. And of course the drums sounded more mature. Bass and vocals? Just as good as always really. The rest of the album consists of material that was written from 1987 to 1991. So a lot of diversity was to be expected. We have ancient songs like “Havoc” and “Mentally Deficient” which are relatively shorter songs and more straight forward than the newer material. Especially the catchiness and rhythms of “Mentally Deficient” are memorable.

Then there are the most catchy songs from their “Dehumanized” demo, namely “Dehymanized”and “Lost Remembrance”. I still wonder why the epic “Thriving On Chaos” was not included since that song had proved to be a live favorite. Still, “Dehymanized”and “Lost Remembrance” were the most brutal (and as said, catchy) songs from that second demo, so no complaints here. Opener “Immolation Of The Agnostic” came from the first ever demo “Prologue” and with this production (and improved drums!) it becomes clear how good and well crafted this song actually is. It goes through all tempi and dynamics Acrotichon were known for yet still remaining a strong and coherent composition. Truly a classic Acrostichon song!

The remaining three songs (“Walker Of Worlds”, “Relics” and “Engraved in Black”) are all around the 6 minute mark and combine the intensity of their shorter songs with the earlier mentioned more epic and elaborate “Immolation Of The Agnostic ”. These three songs came from their earlier 1991 live tape (on which relics was still called “Germinant Malefaction”) and with this production they sound even better (the cymbals on that demo were quite annoying).

“Walker Of Worlds” is the least interesting song because it seems to loose itself compositionally a tad too much and the fastest parts seem a bit sloppy. Personally I would have prefered “Thriving On Chaos” over "Walker of Worlds".
The title track “Engraved in Black” is quite divisive as some mention it among their favorite tracks whereas I consider one of the two weaker songs on the album. So, yeah....

“Relics”, apart from the 1991 live demo, had also appeared earlier on a Peaceville sampler and that version was slightly more enjoyable because of the production (which lay soundwise between this album and their Dehumanized demo). Also the version of “Mentally Deficient” which had appeared on the D.S.F.A. 3 sampler was slightly more enjoyable than this version, again because of the production.

Acrostichon sounded more dynamic than other Dutch death metal bands during that period and I applaude them for not incorporating blast beats on one hand and not becoming too doomy on the other. The balance between ultra doom, speed and groove, often within songs itself, gave them their own specific sound. Not forgetting to mention Corine’s vocals. So deep, so dirty! Guitarist Richard Schouten was the main songwriter for the band and surely gave the world some marvellous death metal classics! The other guitarist Jos had the hots for classic metal and it showed! In the early nineties his solo’s were high standard for death metal criteria.

Try to imagine combining Autopsy with Nihilist but with a more in your face production and throw in some extra Black Sabbath and a few hints of ancient thrash. Acrostichon had character!

Too bad it took them a few years before finally releasing their debut album. If they'd done that 2 years earlier, they might have become a lot bigger than they did in the end. By the way: I found the original artwork not to my liking but the album received entirely new artwork for the 2011 and 2013 rereleases.

Morbert



..::TRACK-LIST::..

1. Immolation Of The Agnostic
2. Walker Of Worlds (Dehumanized Part 2)
3. Dehumanized
4. Mentally Deficient
5. Lost Remembrance
6. Zombies
7. Havoc
8. Relics
9. Engraved In Black

Bonus Tracks: Live at Hateau, Nov 1993
10. Forgotten
11. Snapshot
12. Monsters
13. Murder
14. Victims
15. Pain



..::OBSADA::..

Corinne - Vocals, Bass
Jos - Guitars
Richard - Guitars
Serge - Drums




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14QE1Nu7zCw



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