Esoctrilihum – Pandaemorthium CD

Completely enshrouded in mystery, France’s ESOCTRILIHUM debuted in 2017 with the promising “Mystic Echo From A Funeral Dimension”, the first stone of a titanic altar erected in the name of dark and majestic black/death metal. One year later, sole member Asthâghul returns from the shadows of his voluntary isolation to complete his unholy monument, and a new, more powerful ritual of cosmic death worship can commence. “Pandaemorthium (Forbidden Formulas To Awaken The Blind Sovereigns Of Nothingness)” is the kind of mature and imaginative work that everybody was expecting from the band, a monstrous gate opened on nihilistic universes of unfathomable void. Instead of rehashing over-abused occult concepts, ESOCTRILIHUM create their own frightful pantheon and fictional dimension by mixing a biblical tone with evident influences from H.P. Lovecraft’s evil cosmogony. Each song is a wound bleeding out mysticism, horror and madness; each riff, an invocation to ancient races and forgotten blind deities of chaos from higher planes of (non)existence, a plea for them to penetrate our dimension and devour us all. “Pandaemorthium” is as ambitious in its conceptual scope as it is apocalyptic in atmospheres and sonic approach. Often bordering on savage death metal and dark psychedelia, Asthâghul’s cyclopean guitar riffs and mystical melodies constantly entwine and concur to the album’s grandeur, while deep growls and brutal rhythm patterns assault the senses and ruthlessly crumble the walls of reality around us, revealing immeasurable depths of utter blackness. And with it, the true purpose of our lives: to serve and feed the Blind Sovereigns of Nothingness.