...SIŁA I PIĘKNO MUZYKI TKWIĄ W JEJ RÓŻNORODNOŚCI...


..::OPIS::..

'Holókauston' wynosi unikalne podejście zespołu, zbudowane wokół nisko strojonych gitar, ceremonialnych wokali i destrukcyjnych struktur rytmicznych, na jeszcze wyższy poziom intensywności.
Zachowując estetykę klasycznego black metalu, album na nowo analizuje gatunkowe rozumienie atmosfery, ciężaru i kompozycji z innej, mroczniejszej perspektywy.



The Age of Wrath is upon Us! At long last, Dark Descent Records presents "Holokauston", the follow-up to Bestia Arcana's acclaimed debut "To Anabainon ek tes Abyssu". Four aphotic hymns to the End-of -Days spoken in sepulchral tongues. Fever- dream oracles of howling gods. Dissonant paeans to mankind's ruin and the final triumph of Death. Who will withstand the Fires of Judgment? Our hands are full of Blood! Oh Lord, our hands are full of Blood!



Bestia Arcana is a band from Naas Alcameth (Nightbringer, Akhlys, Aoratos), so you can roughly guess what the listener will hear on Holókauston. To place Bestia Arcana amongst Naas' other bands in terms of sound, it can be said that they are most reminiscent of Nightbringer in terms of complexity and this epic, majestic vibe, but they are much more massive, chaotic and not as focused on the high leads. Instead they play with lower-pitched rhythm guitars.

But now to Holókauston: This album really has something of a mad, cacophonous sermon. This feeling is mainly created by the vocals. When it comes to vocals, you have to mention Ophis, who also contributed significant parts, especially on Terra Damnata. On this album, however, Ophis takes up a large part of the vocals, whose voice is less reminiscent of classic black metal screams than of operatic, absolutely insane chanting, which creates the aforementioned sermon vibe. Naas is also often heard on the album, but instead of his distinctive screams, he contributes his incantatory growls, which support Ophis very well.
Occasionally, very strong voice eaters are also used, which really make the singers sound like they are underwater.

Another important element are the guitars, which, as already mentioned, are tuned much lower than in Naas' other projects, consequently giving off a certain chaotic death metal vibe. The distortion on the guitars is sometimes so strong that it resembles an apocalyptic thunderstorm and sounds even more massive with a good pinch of reverb. But there are also some lead parts, which usually throw around dissonances with strangely large intervals between two notes.

Menthor's drumming supports the overall picture perfectly, or to be more precise, they actually help create it. Unbelievably powerful blast beats, evocative toms used a lot, a lot of midtempo and partly also funeral doom-like passages, which are so cruelly drawn out that it hurts. Grandiose!

The whole thing is supported by such a dense and powerful production, which is only capable of effectively producing these waves of pure chaos. The sound resembles a roll of thunder that penetrates the auditory canals.

Another highlight is the structure of the album: there are only four songs, but three of them are over 10 minutes long, resulting in a pleasant 41-minute listening experience that is over surprisingly quickly. The first two songs in particular form the most chaotic and massive elements on the entire album, sounding like a thousand portents of Armageddon being loudly spread.

Then comes a cut, Howling, and this presents itself much more subtle and atmospheric than the first two songs. The tempo is completely taken out, but it is played entirely in doom tempo. This song presents itself like a silent storm of death, quietly bringing the hours before the end. It creates a bit of a sense of foreshadowing of what is to come. And this turns out in the form of Iniquity, the last song, which skilfully combines all the elements once again, from the chaotic technical riffs and blast attacks of the first two songs and the beastly slow playing of Howling, but also brings along enough originality. Iniquity is the most epic song on the album, as it features some choir vocals on the one hand, and melodic orchestral samples on the other, which really give the song a doomsday feel. In addition, the song contains an absolutely disturbing dissonant lead part that is really intense. The album and the song ends with a beautiful sample and a melody, which could already be heard in the first half of the song and offers an excellent conclusion to this epic masterpiece.

As a rule, I can't say much about the lyrics: but here are some lines that are used so skilfully that they burn themselves into skulls: The "Term of all that liveth" quote from Golden Dawn, the often repeated "Our hands are full of blood, Oh lord" on Iniquity, the "Consumatum est (it is consumed) and the "The age of wrath is upon us, who will withstand the fires of judgment" on Hellmouth are just a few examples.

The album artworks are two of the best I have ever seen. Both the Chalice of Revelation, penned by David Herrerias with very beautiful colour gradients, the golden vessel and the prominent serpents, and second: the burning city on the digipack, which really immerses you in the end-time battle, could hang like an oil painting in a castle.

What else can be said about this: For me, Holókauston is one of the best black metal albums of all times, because it stands for itself above all. There is nothing that sounds like Holókauston, it cannot be compared to anything, and even within the Naas Alcameth discography, it shows itself to be unique.

John Baal


From the mystical forests of Colorado hail the three bringers of death. Naas Alcameth and Menthor strike again, in cooperation with a third anonymous member. Naas Alcameth's projects (Nightbringer, Akhlys, Aoratos) are widely known among the underground as some of the most unique, innovative and frightening black metal in the scene, each project Naas worked on proved his unmistakable ability to create mesmerizing sonic landscapes, exploring the occult and esoteric themes in their purest form.

While the aforementioned projects of Naas somewhat follow certain patterns and remain generally familiar, they always bring something new to the table and explore different esoteric themes, Bestia Arcana is no different in that regard, bringing an entirely different approach to their own, well recognizable black metal formula once again and expanding upon it.

"Holókauston" is composed of 4 massive tracks, each of them ranging from 8 to 11 minutes long, all brewed from the same formula, yet each of them presenting an entirely different and equally fascinating results, Bestia Arcana has enough to offer in each track to keep the listener invested in the music until the last minutes of the album. With both Naas' masterfully crafted compositions as well as spectacular vocal performance and the deadly, powerful and mesmerizing drumming of Menthor, "Holókauston" is a relentless, apocalyptic black metal offering that surpasses all expectations and reaches far beyond most conventional black metal and instead focuses on delivering their unique approach to the genre that is far more dark, relentless and well put than most of your pseudo "true" black metal.

The album opens with the most intense track on the album, "Hellmouth", which begins with the lone toll of the bell shortly followed by maniacal riffing and inhumanly precise and crushing blasting of the drums. The demented, narrative vocals begin to chant as everything unfolds into a bursting wall of orgasmic sonic explosion. The entire track is a bombastic soundscape filled with ferocious passages and adrenaline-inducing intensity that bounces between being extremely addictive yet delivering a haunting, dark and unpredictive dose of powerful and atmosphere-drenched black metal.

"Howling", a third track on the album, stands out the most out of all four tracks, as it is an 11 minute-long, slow, droning, you could say - Howling, invocation that is just as brutal and relentless as the rest of the fast-paced tracks. The slow, almost funeral doom-esque tempo of the track, combined with demented orations and deep, miserably sluggish guitar tones and drums, creates a truly oppressive atmosphere drowned in apocalyptic, frightening ambiance and droning movements. "Howling" is a powerful statement that delivers an incomprehensible weight and sets the dark tone for the entire album.

The album jumps between incredibly intense and tense, powerful black metal blasting and astonishingly deep, heavy passages that are more reminiscent of funeral doom, except with more dynamic and layers of atmosphere, drone and ambiance. What makes "Holókauston" great however is not what and how many elements it uses, because every band can throw all kind of noise in the mix and hope for the best, Bestia Arcana is strict and direct, every single sound on this album has its purpose and every time you listen to it, it is a journey that has its beginning and the end, it is an album that had a vision and a concept that was executed perfectly with no compromise, the way everything blends together and creates the demented, apocalyptic black metal sound that Bestia Arcana was able to produce is nothing short of a masterpiece and proves that there is still a lot of room for innovation in the genre.

In short, a must listen!

InTheShadowOfAThousandBeans



..::TRACK-LIST::..

1. Hellmouth 10:33
2. Obscurator 08:25
3. Howling 11:09
4. Iniquity 11:21



..::OBSADA::..

Naas Alcameth - Lyrics, Synthesizers, Vocals, Ambiance, Guitars, Songwriting, Bass
Menthor - Drums
Ophis - Vocals (lead), Lyrics

Guest, Vocals - T. Kaos



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuWl3jTCmTk


SEED 15:00-22:00.
POLECAM!!!