Cthonica
- Lessor Incantations of Cthonic Lore
Venezuela
Sentient
Ruin Laboratories
/ Caligari Records
From
the depths of Venezuela, a communist country rife
with crime and oppression, comes the duo known as Cthonica. The band plays
dark and subterranean black/death reminiscent of bands like
Antediluvian and Grave Upheaval. "Lessor Incantations of
Cthonic Lore" is their sophomore release and the follow-up to
their excellent 2019 debut album, eerily titled "Typhomanteia:
Sacred Triarchy of Spiritual Putrefaction." The music exudes a
deeply sinister atmosphere that makes you feel as if you've just entered
an alternate dimension of pure evil. Most of the songs follow a
similar flow, but are able to put the listener into a trance with
their hypnotic and impossibly dark overtones. The vocals are
monstrously cavernous to match the music, while the drums, bass, and
guitar are drenched in a rather primitive production. The guitar
sound is absolutely perfect for the style they play and gives off a
very gritty atmosphere that makes your skin crawl. The production is
suitably raw for this kind of cacophonous music, coupled with their
knack for excellent songwriting that contains a lot of depth. There
are a lot of bands that have tried to play some sort of dark, murky black/death over the years, but few come across as
convincingly as these Venezuelan maniacs. These guys are, without a
doubt, the real deal. Highly
recommended! (HT)