Whenever I write reviews, I try to completely devour the albums. I listen to them multiple times no matter what my personal taste thinks of it. I pull out anything and everything from it to really try and understand what I’m hearing. Every once in a while, I get an album to review that I completely fall in love with. I’ll find myself sticking with it long past the album has come out and the hype has dissipated. So far, that’s been the case with Astrophobos and Malice of Antiquity.
Astrophobos’ sound really sits in a great spot to me. It’s a slightly different take on an established sound though it’s also a wonderful trip down memory lane. It’s got that established raucous and chaotic black metal sound of the second wave but with a more melodic take. The riffs do sound very melodious and just feel really good and even pleasant to hear. The subject matter of the lyrics is even more on point. Having this evil and chaotic sound that also is describing scenes of fires consuming a church or demons take over the earth is just so on the nose that you absolutely have to love it.
Astrophobos has been cranking out some solid melodic second wave black metal since 2009. The sound has gotten more and more polished since their 2010 debut, and this kind of sound is what’s missing from current black metal releases. There’s nothing wrong with a good throwback when there’s a slight variation and signature to the sound. As I noted in my review, a little nostalgia can be perfectly healthy if there’s this kind of variation on it. If we’re lucky, we’ll see Astrophobos on the road and many more releases come our way in the near future. This record is fun to hear and a great way to tap into the darker side. Thanks for an awesome record, guys. Keep up the good work.