Empyrean Atrophy
Released 31.8.2018 on Agonia Records
For fans of Iskald, ACOD, Disember & Omnium Gatherum
Featuring ex-members of Misery Index, Cattle Decapitation & Scour this Death Metal supergroup have had this project in the pipeline for a number of years but finally the results of this very Swedish sounding debut E.P. finally gets it’s release and isn’t what fans of the previous bands would expect.
It’s also promising at this point to learn that Dan Swano is responsible for mixing and producing Empyrean Atrophy
The E.P. consists of 6 tracks and comes in just over 25 minutes, the first track “As the Dead Lie” starts off with its slow chugging riff before being broken by the sound of Huskey’s growling vocals after which the tempo switches ever so slightly before the groove of the track returns. We then get a monster 7.5 minute track “The Burning Light” before getting to the midway point with something that would easily sit on an Opeth record “Standing in the Shadows” is a Spanish styled in its work and it’s gentle relaxing sounds pull you in gently and wrap you up nicely before the cover is quickly taken away with the onslaught of “A Plague of Light”
Easily my favorite track of this release is the title track “Empyrean Atrophy” it’s everything I currently love right now with a sound that also has an element of Maiden’s Steve Harris Bass in there so it’s a clear winner. It finishes with “JesusSatan” which is my least favorite – it’s full on from the beginning & wouldn’t sound out of place on the upcoming Deicide release but it just didn’t quite have the finishing blow that Benton can deliver
Looking forward to what comes next from Cast The Stone, hopefully, the wait won’t be as long.
4 out of 5 skulls
https://agoniarecords.bandcamp.com/album/empyrean-atrophy
