The Pitch: Portland black metal band Drouth return with the imposing Excerpts From a Dread Liturgy via Translation Loss Records. FFO: Pale Chalice, Abigail Williams, UADA
What I Like: With Excerpts From a Dread Liturgy, Drouth continue the trajectory of their previous album towards a modern melodic black metal sound in the vein of fellow Portlanders UADA. But let's not oversimplify, as along the way the band have seriously stepped up their game in the songwriting department. With longer runtimes and far proggier compositions than ever before, these are easily their most ambitious songs to date. The guitars in particular on "An Apiarist" have some more than passing Opeth vibes from the bouncy chord progressions to the ripping melodic solo that certainly caught my attention early on. Meanwhile others like "O Time Thy Pyramids - An Unfinished Nightmare" and "A Repulsive Act Shrouded in Flesh" still deliver on the vicious onslaught of blastbeats and icy tremolos that made Knives, Labyrinths, Mirrors such a resounding success back in 2017.
Critiques: I'd like to see even more implementation of the progressive elements as these definitely stuck with me the most. The more straightforward portions didn't feel as memorable as on the last album.
The Verdict: Excerpts From a Dread Liturgy represents a band with their focus on the road ahead. Dabbling in more complextsongwriting and more expansive, dynamic performances, this will certainly not be the last time you hear the name Drouth from my lips. Another one of the few black metal albums to really catch my attention in 2020.
Flight's Fav's: An Apiarist, O Time Thy Pyramids, A Repulsive Act Shrouded in Flesh
- Review by FlightOfIcarus
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