Sumerian Daemons

I recently spent time with my metal buddies, engaged in a discussion about Greek metal bands. When the topic of Septic Flesh arose, each person presented a different favourite album. To me, this diversity of preferences serves as evidence of the band's quality, even though I wouldn't consider myself the biggest fan. While I do appreciate some of their albums, I generally find myself not entirely captivated by their music.

"Sumerian Daemons", on the other hand, resonates with total perfection in my ears. As one of the very first extreme metal albums I ever encountered, it took me some time to fully embrace its brilliance. I vividly remember the early days of its release – a friend invited me to his house to listen to it. At that point, my musical taste revolved only around bands like Iron Maiden, Helloween, and Ozzy Osbourne. "Sumerian Daemons" struck me as excessively brutal; it was a departure from my usual preferences. Nonetheless, I copied the album onto a cassette and brought it home.

During my initial listens, the predominant emotion I experienced was horror. The intensity of the music left me genuinely scared. Despite this initial reaction, over time, I have listened to the album countless times, now owning it in both CD and Vinyl formats. My appreciation for "Sumerian Daemons" has grown to the point where I love it to death.

Septic Flesh's career can be delineated into two distinct periods. The first concludes with "Sumerian Daemons", while the second and current phase commences with "Communion". A notable evolution in their musical style is evident, transitioning to a more classical symphonic approach with reduced emphasis on guitar riffs. In their earlier years, Septic Flesh resonated closely with a typical Greek metal sound, showcasing a diverse range on their albums. Their musical palette spanned from conventional metal compositions to more experimental tracks. However, with the advent of the second phase starting with "Communion", a discernible shift towards a more classical symphonic direction is apparent, marking a departure from their earlier, riff-oriented style.

This particular album can be aptly described as a synthesis or encapsulation of the musical essence found across all their previous releases. It embodies extreme metal, leaning towards the distinctive Greek sound with a pronounced death metal undertone. The atmosphere is richly atmospheric, enhanced by industrial sounds and symphonic elements. In its essence, the album is experimental and somewhat progressive, though not in the conventional Dream Theater sense.

Choosing only two words to describe it, one would settle on "dark" and "melancholic". It's challenging to express adequately just how profoundly dark and melancholic the album is. From the very onset, the listener is plunged into a realm of horror, terror, and darkness, as conveyed by the introductory notes. The symphonic components contribute significantly to this eerie and haunted atmosphere, acting more as gothic embellishments rather than classical symphonic elements akin to bands like Therion or other female-fronted groups. Female backing vocals also play a role in establishing this haunting feature and vibe. The sporadic inclusion of electronic and industrial sounds serves as an additional layer, intensifying the overall sense of horror.

The musicianship displayed in this album is truly remarkable, particularly in terms of composition and songwriting. While there isn't an unnecessary flex of technical prowess, it's evident that all the musicians involved are highly trained, skilled, and complete masters of their respective instruments. The mastery truly shines in their song construction—the seamless integration of diverse elements, riffs, and parts. They skilfully dress the core of each composition with symphonic, gothic, and industrial elements, achieving the creation of an obscure and unique atmosphere.

The guitars wield a significant heaviness, with riffs ranging from simple open chords to more typical death/extreme metal riffing. Additionally, the inclusion of clean guitar parts throughout the album contributes to the overall sense of horror and emotion, adding another layer to the sonic experience.

Special credit is due to Akis Kapranos for delivering an exceptional drum performance. His execution is jaw-dropping, featuring extreme, fast, tight, dynamic, energetic, and creative drum grooves and fills that precisely complement the demands of each song. Kapranos's drumming adds a crucial dimension, enhancing the overall impact and effectiveness of the album.

The vocals are really brutal, characterized by deep and baritone-like growls that evoke the image of a Sumerian demon or perhaps even Charon, the figure transporting the dead to the Greek underworld through the river Acheron, known as the river of woe (The Dark River). These vocalizations serve as a perfect complement to the music, seamlessly blending with the overall atmosphere of the album.

An essential aspect of the album is the remarkable guitar melodies woven throughout its entirety. These melodies, characteristic of typical Greek metal and honed to perfection by Septic Flesh, serve as melancholic, dark, and desperate cries that reach deep into the listener's soul and emotions. They play a pivotal role in shaping the unique atmosphere of the music.

It's perplexing to me why the band discontinued this style after this album. Since "Communion", these distinctive guitar melodies have been noticeably absent, leaving Septic Flesh's music, in my opinion, feeling more audacious but also somewhat lacking in the depth and richness that these melodies provided.

The cover art, a creation by Seth Siro Anton, who is also the vocalist and bass player, is nothing short of pure art. Seth is a prominent figure in the metal cover art scene, renowned for his signature style, and has contributed to the creation of hundreds of album covers. The cover for this particular album aligns seamlessly with the music, embodying a dark, gothic, and evil essence filled with allegorical elements. It successfully combines obscurity with a modern touch.

The production of the album is commendable—robust, heavy, and multilayered, creating a spooky atmosphere that retains the raw sound of 90s extreme metal while embracing a modern quality for its time. In my opinion, its sound bears similarities to "Sanctus Diavolos" by Rotting Christ, albeit slightly heavier and richer. This resemblance is not surprising, considering that both albums involve the expertise of Fredrik Nordström, either as a producer or mixer.

In conclusion, this album represents a pinnacle of extreme metal mastery, delivering a unique and obscure dark atmosphere without a single moment of filler. For those yet to experience it, I strongly recommend not delaying any further—give it a listen. Prepare to be immersed in a world where the sky turns grey, and an overwhelming sense of melancholy and horror takes hold. This is more than music; it's a genuine work of art.

SepticFlesh really pull something remarkable off on this release, typically what impresses me about metal is almost always the instruments / drums guitar bass ect always shine the highest, while I may like the vocal aspects of the band they are rarely crucial to the enjoyment of the album. Here we have something different a truly operatic yet heavy bordering on brutal release from Septic Flesh, Sumerian Demons is a crucial metal release for all metal fans and here is why.

The drumming on this album can be fast as hell, although its not really the drum speed that’s so impressive, its how easily the drums morph to the mood of the song and change along with it. The Drummer remains tasteful to the music that’s portrayed. Never does the album turn into a Fill fest or drums simply for the sake of showing off, and this is a good thing.

The guitars evolve through out the song and even throughout the album, at times being very low and brutal sounding other times they have a Swedish melodeath quality to them, and melody here is the key to the album.

The vocals really take you away; the strong deathly “wraith like” sorrowful vocals really do a lot for this album. The strong Male vocals intertwine perfectly with female operatic sounding vocals, and that serves to wrap around each other however these vocals don’t overlap, instead often used as a foreground background type of motif.

The bass has a rich grindy sound that’s evident and really shines through on songs like “Magic Loves Infinity”. The bass plays along more to the drums then the guitar making it more fun to listen to.

The flow of this album is interesting adding to the unique ness, sort of an on again off again melody vs brutality kind of thing pulled off really well. This makes the album not feel like a chore to listen to, something bands like nile, hate eternal, or so many others often fail to pull off on their recent releases.

The creativity and uniqueness aside SepticFlesh pulled off a heavy fast album that simply is awesome to listen to. Something you wont stop listing to any time soon. Best way I can describe this album is its just “tasty” leaves you wanting more. This is the kind of album I could listen to making me want to pop in some FleshGod Apocalpse, interesting that I read they will be touring together. Like the wine to a great steak, this album kicks my ass time and again.

A symphonic death metal dream come true? An ailing, once exotic artist's much needed return to form? Sumerian Daemons is both of these things and more, as Greeks Septic Flesh return to the values that amplified the resonance of classics like Mystic Places of Dawn and Ophidian Wheel. After taking a turn for the worse with their Gothic and industrial-imbued Revolution DNA, Sotiris Vagenas and the Antoniou brothers decided to take a 180 from that Hop Topic friendly terrain to what they do best: crushing, atmospheric death metal endowed with heavy use of operatic vocal arrangements and a distinctly Gothic/doom tinge. Yet, for all that, Sumerian Daemons does not abandon the band's incessant desire for progression, nor does it lack the 'modernist' aesthetic that its predecessor was mildly (and unsuccessfully) hinting at.

This is easily one of the better produced works of Septic Flesh, with a ton happening below the surface, and all of it captured in the amber of studio gloss without overwhelming the listener. The band return to using the operatic vocals of Natalie Rassoulis, but she has never sounded better on any of their works. FINALLY, they have mixed her appropriately against the music, and even though I might like the songs on Ophidian Wheel a fraction more than these, she certainly is nowhere near as overbearing. There are outright, sweeping dark classical segments here like "Behold...the Land of Promise", "Magic Loves Infinity" and the intro to "Faust", but what's more, they have incorporated her straight into some of the crushing, aggressive death metal tracks as just another layer of their sweltering atmospherics. You still have a nice array of guitar effects, with some of the dreary, doom laden chorus mixed into the more forceful mutes and blasts. Did I mention blasts? Yes, there is a higher per capita of blasting here than any prior release from the band, but to be truthful, these were some of my least favorite parts of the record. Good to have the variation in there, but the accompanying riffs were often slightly 'meh'.

So, it's the most 'brutal' of all Septic Flesh albums, but what's more important is that they have paced this so well, with obvious peaks and valleys of archaic emotion and modern finesse. Those who were heavily into the Gothic/death accessibility of A Fallen Temple will undoubtedly like the sailing, depressive "Infernal Sun", while those seeking the industrial ingredients of the previous album will fall over "Mechanical Babylon", which is somehow less lame than almost all of Revolution DNA combined, even if it's just stock industrial metal. Other experimental tracks exist here, highly curious and atmospheric, like "Red Code Cult" and "When All is None" which are both pretty tight. But then, if you just want your shit bowled over, you've got "Unbeliever" or "Sumerian Daemons" itself. The electronics, death metal growls, symphonic ingredients and other elements are all seamlessly combined into this hostile, brilliant structure that often takes a step back or so to truly appreciate.

Ultimately, it's another damn amazing notch in the band's crown, successful in combining the band's Chaostar compositional style into the potent ballast of 90s Septic Flesh. There are a few tunes I like slightly less than others, and a number of guitar lines that, if extracted from the writhing, cybersymphonic mass, don't hold up by themselves. That said, there are so many little distractions in these songs that one is unlikely to pay close attention to the riffs alone, and the Greeks had returned with a vengeance here that I doubt anyone was expecting. Also, though I don't think this new logo has the same appeal as their classy originals (1991-98), it's at least a step up over the lazy 'not a logo' on Revolution DNA. Sumerian Daemons is not my favorite record by the band, since the songs lack some of the distinction found elsewhere, but it's a positive re-affirmation of one of the strongest Hellenic extreme metal entities, and surrounds you with antiquarian imagery, occult egotism, the circuitry of destruction and damnation.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

OK, I know I’m not the most well versed on extreme metal compared to some, but I’d like to think I’m well versed just enough to make a claim like this: Septic Flesh’s Sumerian Daemons is a very unique, inventive and eclectic take on extreme metal while still remaining punchy and direct. In fact, I rarely hear death and black metal like this ever, and while there are certainly other ways to make those genres more out there and oddball…this is one of the most idiosyncratic I have heard lately. Sumerian Daemons just rules and…I guess I’ll start explaining why.

This is basically death metal with propulsive, chugging riffage, deep bellowing vocals and kinetic drumming, layered over top with a healthy dose of electronic-style blips and bleeps over top, woven in subtly most of the time and coming out for a more prominent appearance only at the album’s weirdest moments. This is really a neat sound, and on tracks like the pounding, surreal “Dark River” it adds a lot of feeling and atmosphere – very pro sounding, and you can tell these guys know what they’re doing. If you don’t like polish in your heavier, filthier genres of metal, maybe this will be a turnoff, but Sumerian Daemons walks a nice balance and remains punishing and clear at the same time. “Magic Loves Infinity” has some really poppish, dreamy synth drops in the midst of the heavy riffing, and it’s one of the album’s standouts for how outlandish it is.

Even the death metal isn’t totally traditional, though, as although there are some comparisons to bands like Amon Amarth or Vader therein, the rhythms are snappy and almost groovy, and the powerful drums give them a lot more kick – never falling into the modern stereotype of overusing the double bass. And the drum sound is just awesome, very up-front and sharp. The riffs are very clean and linear, chugging about in a way not entirely unrelatable to even fans of the more melodic genres. But they’re still heavy and feral enough for the deathheads too. Sotiris’ vocals are a deep bellow and sometimes he changes it up with a deep intonation, and both styles are good.

Songwriting’s just stellar – the band will introduce little flourishes of nostalgic, slightly folkish melody like on “When All is None” between the otherwise impenetrable wall of the riffs. On “Virtues of the Beast,” they craft a majestic, creepy tune that heaves along like a great old cave monster, complete with a haunting vocal performance and backing synths that rise and fall like waves of fire. “Faust” is similarly dramatic and eclectic, but then on the other end of the spectrum, opener “Unbeliever” is a hook-filled, pugilistic ass-stomper for the ages, and “Red Code Cult” as well as the insanity of the title track are examples of how unhinged and aggressive the band can be. They just cover all the bases on here from melodic majesty to ferocious aggression, and the variety makes for a strikingly addictive and hooky album.

You won’t be able to stop listening to this. I know I haven’t been able to. Sumerian Daemons is an album of parallels, both beautiful and deadly, accessible and yet experimental. One of the better death metal albums I’ve heard lately. Whether you’re recommending this to a death metal newbie or to a seasoned fan who just hasn’t heard it, anyone with a taste for creative music should find something to like here. Go hear it.

This is the last album that the Greek band, Septic Flesh, had recorded and the first album of theirs that I have so I don’t have any of their previous efforts to compare to, though previous efforts can be a millstone as well as a milestone so this review is done on this album’s merits alone.

“Sumerian Daemons” is a multi-layered beast of an album that takes Death Metal and mixes it up with touches of classical music and various electronics such as Industrial which results in this album. There is usage of samples used in the recording as well as various riffs from the guitars and classical vocals by Natalie Rossoulis and a choir which creates the atmospheric feel of the album.

The songs go from fast (Unbeliever, Red Code Cult) to slow (The Virtues of the Beast) to even melodic (Infernal Sun, Magic Loves Infinity) and some change gears (When All is None) which keeps the listener on his toes, depending on the mode of said listener. The main male vocalist, Set’h (Spiros Antoniou) has a deep growl which is clear and works because it is the rough to Natalie’s opera-like smoothness when she sings, as well as the music itself. The lyrics themselves are well thought out in detail.

In the melodic and slower songs on the album, the guitar riffs have a NWOBHM feel to them but with a Mediterranean twist, the heavier songs have the riffs buried under drums and other trickery which makes difficult to understand the riff structure at times, though they are distinctive. I have mentioned choirs and electronic elements being in the album.

Example of electronics in the music is in the vocals in “Mechanical Babylon” which are distorted except for the chorus with use of samples and eastern prayer calls and “Shapeshifter” where the opening and closing thirds consist of spacious sounds and what sound like someone lightly blowing through a tube repeated over and over for the opening 1:45 by my estimate.

Some of the electronics used can resemble the guitar so closely in “Empire of the Watchers” and “Sumerian Daemon” that it makes it difficult to distinguish the riffs from the synths being used. The choir is mainly used as background vocals alongside Spiros' growls and to create atmosphere and feel with the riffs.

To the albums credit, the mixture of Death metal, classical music and electronics comes off most of the time, songs such as “Faust” and “Unbeliever” accents the guitars without bogging them in sounds that might take their impact while the melodic songs like “Infernal Sun” (which I rarely listen to, despite it being a good song), “Shapeshifter”, “When All is None” and “Dark River” have a good rhythm in the songs and keep the riffs upfront where they’re needed rather than just riffs for the sake of doing so.

The production job on the album is professional, considering the number of different elements used in the music. Sometimes, these elements haven’t worked out as well as the band hoped but the album itself is well done but it isn’t going to be in the top 20 Death Metal albums of all time.

After the uncertain “Revolution DNA”, the band released one of their best masterpieces… “Sumerian Daemons” offers the best of both sides of Septic Flesh: modern sounding melodies and dark brutality. Here the modern sounds meets Death and Black Metal riffing, with one of the most aggressive vocalist I ever heard. There are a few elements used on the previous album (which I don´t like, because is too modern, too synthetic) but this time they are back on the fast drumming and their typical band topics (myths, darkness, magic). Keyboards and samplers are usually included to give atmosphere and dramatism, with the occasional use for melodic variety. As I said, the vocal performances are simply great, using brutal and dark ones, mixed with some female chorus, in order to create very memorable and intense passages. The only bad point is, maybe, a couple of slow and long songs, but there are not really bad at all. Artwork is great, full of good ideas and a particular taste. I like most of the band releases, but I think that this one is the perfect summary of the band´s art.

On Sumerian Daemons, Septic Flesh combine everything from their past. That is to say, death metal, black metal and classical music mixed with some electronics and huge amounts of dark atmosphere. This is Septic Flesh on their broadest musical horizon.

Sotiris' deep demonic death growls are superhuman. Natalie Rasoulis excellent classical vocals blend in wonderfully. The trademark guitar sounds are not held back by poor production, Frederik Nordström and Patrik Jerksten have suceeded in making an astounding sound here. The melodies are pure Septic Flesh. Each song is greatly different than the next, there are melodic pieces, ultra heavy blasting and tightly controlled aggressiveness, and opera-esque epic parts, sometimes all in one song. I won't bother to go through song by song, or try and pick any stand out tracks because every song is deadly. I would however, like to mention the first 2 songs, the operatic intro 'Behold the Land of Promise' which sets a dark brooding atmosphere and paves the way for the monster that is 'Unbeliever.' A simple but strong evil sounding riff smashes in with drums blasting, and the album is off to a strong start. It is no wonder that it took four years to make this album, since this is one of the most complete sounding albums I have heard.

To write about the music is really useless, it is so unique. It possesses sheer heaviness through the use of its atmosphere and control.
Sumerian Daemons is pretty close to darkest music I´ve ever heard. Septic Flesh have mastered their artform of dark atmospheric death metal. The artwork is also excellent. You really must get this.

Hail Septic Flesh. (R.I.P)