Automb – Esoterica

Automb, as far as I can tell, is an American-based ‘Dream Team’ of sorts, consisting of two Death Metal strong-arms (one from Morbid Angel, the other from Necrophagia) who apparently wanted to test their mettle with the Black Metal genre. In order to accomplish this, they searched for an undisclosed amount of time until they came across Danielle Evans, a vocalist that I have yet to find any previous bands for – That being said, with the impressive growl she delivers on ”Horned God” (the first track) onwards, I have no doubt that she will rise far. Especially given the fact that she is already standing on the shoulder of giants, in the form of her two band members.

One year after their initial inception, the trio released their first ever release, a Full-length entitled Esoterica – An apt title, given the esoteric nature of the release, and its heavy emphasis on paganism and witchcraft.

Now, given that Automb is primarily made up of Death Metal veterans, I was half expecting Esoterica to be a mixture of both of the genres, not unlike the masterpieces made by Dissection more than two decades ago. To my surprise, however, the Americans have managed to make a full-blooded and high-powered Black Metal release. This fits their female vocalists growling style particularly well, with the fast-paced approach to the music and the occasional solo effortlessly supporting her menacing, guttural exclamations of blasphemy. I genuinely had a hard time finding a track to highlight of the nine tracks presented to me, so I fell back to my fail-safe, which is to google if any of the songs have a music video dedicated to it – In this case only one did, the track ”Into Nothingness”, the very last track on the forty-three minutes long record. It can, of course, be found below.

Now, a last piece of trivia which might not be overall relevant to the album as a whole, but I still felt like including it: The album is dedicated to Frank ”Killjoy” Pussi of Necrophagia fame, who died a mere six months prior to this release. A grand gesture, one that also showcases that even if the world (or your musical genre) changes, you still need to remember and honour your past.

Recommended for fans of Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult.

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