Denouncement Pyre – Almighty Arcanum (2013)

Delivering 42 minutes of barbaric old-school Black/Death Metal, today we have Australia’s Denouncement Pyre and their latest release “Almighty Arcanum”. With a refined devastating sound, this Aussie band pummels through nine hate filled tracks that will rattle your speakers from beginning to end.

After the warm-up instrumental intro “Breath of Tehom”, the band blasts away with the soul crushing “An Extension of the Void”. The band’s musical abilities have greatly improved over the years and on tracks like “The Deceiver”, they sound like a less Black’n’Roll version of Satyricon. The tempo of this release is quite ‘relaxed’ in some tracks, allowing Denouncement Pyre to have a very unique and dark vibe; “He Who Conquers All” is a great example of a less intense track that creates a very cavernous and well-crafted atmosphere.

Providing a little breather between riffing onslaughts, “Drakon: All is One” is a nice atmospheric piece that is nicely followed by the triumphant “Circle of Serpent”. This last track is our favorite song in the release thanks to the interesting intro section that leads to some furious drumming and very well crafted riffs that make some of the slower sections very eerie. Reminding us of Canadian horde Weapon, “Darkness Manifest” is another dissonant track that delivers waves of crushing vocals and a very commanding tempo.

Surprisingly “Almighty Arcanum” is the band’s sophomore release, and it greatly shows how much the band has grown over the years releasing countless EP’s and demos. If you are in the market for some clear sounding old-school Black/Death with very refined tracks, this is the album you have been waiting for. We can only hope the band keeps improving and releasing more of these cavernous releases that would please even the pickiest people in terms of sound quality and authentic sound.

Release: January 22nd, 2013

Genre: Black/Death Metal

Country: Australia