As soon as the listener presses that play button, one is welcomed to the opening track, Pleasures Of Her Flesh, where the listener’s ears are dragged into the sheer brutality and technicality of the guitars (scary -while the riffs alternate between heavy and dissonant sections). The rhythmic battering of the drums, and deep guttural growls and howling shrieks that will devour your essence of life. This is the first serving of the dish of forbidden fruits and pure horror!
Soon as the listeners take flight with this horror and forbidden fruit of extreme delight with the second track, Evolution, and the remaining eight pieces giving the listener these creative influences to the table. Sowing together-faux-sole essences of Arch Enemy, The Haunted, Soilwork, Testament, and Lamb Of God and a core sound steeped in nineties groove and classic death metal with a hint of blackened atmosphere. Thus creating a sound and a musical spectrum of their own. Either or whatever you want to call Acherontia Styx – either it’s Post-death (hell, why not), Experimental Death Metal or Groove-laden Death Metal – whatever style the listener classes Acherontia Styx. One thing is for sure, these death metallers are “loud”, “heavy”, “horror/nightmarish”, “groove-laden death” and push the boundaries of experimenting with sound/atmosphere, genres, and music.
Shadow & Flame is a brim-stone of giving the listener an enjoyable and profound extreme metal, showcasing of giving the listener’s ears overwhelming well-executed release. It has an excellent energetic value of top-notch production, a lyrical theme on the (influences of both) “Silence Of The Lambs” and “Ed Gein” and many others. —at times, each song capturing various moods, tempos, and atmospheres for the whole musical piece — an extreme and brutal delight consisting of ten powerful heavy, and brutal songs and music that is well-arranged and composed; this includes the composing and arrangement of the instrumental/vocal work, which is all delivered by incredible devilmanship.
Shadow & Flame showcases an exhibition of perfection and consisting of instrumental artistry of fast adrenaline of (brutality and technically) ferocious attitude of catchy (pulsing groove) melodies/rhythms that alternate between shredding, heavy, blackened and dissonant sections. Pulsing bass riffs, a rhythmic battering of the drums & balls to wall of deep guttural growls that will devour your essence of life.…
At the same time, Shadow & Flame -each of the ten songs is of full-life, doesn’t sound the same, an identity of their own. Simultaneously, the listener will find some additional magical and horrific-fruitiness of vocal artistry which alternate (convenient to place at the right moment/on the right song) where we hear Jake Burden (drums of chaos) take over on main vocals, with Paul’s signature black metal howl’s as a backing. Then we have the lovely ladies Tracy Moore (Primitive Machine) (operatic voice) on track five and track four, the Hyena screams of Linn Liv from Dutch bands Pictura Poesis And Cyanide Paradise.
Track eight Hurricane Of Pains, -the true horror and fruit of passion, which consists of a dual vocal attack from lead vocalists Grant & Paul (Paul trades his signature black metal howl for low guttural vocals that provide a stunning harmony with Grant’s style)
We want to give a shoutout to Acherontia Styx for letting us review their album, Shadow & Flame. Now, we’re going to wrap it up by talking about the final three sins and concluding the review.
