Theotoxin - Fragment: Erhabenheit (2020)

Hailing from Austria, today we have the pummeling Theotoxin and their latest hellish offering “Fragment: Erhabenheit”. Delivering a dynamic mixture of Black/Death Metal, the band unravels nearly 45 minutes of ravaging songs filled with brutality and dissonance. For fans of bands like Behemoth, Belphegor and Old Man’s Child, this release balances a brilliant production and waves of brutal onslaughts.

The ritual begins with the blistering opener “Golden Tomb”, a very punishing track filled with demonic vocals, waves of ravaging guitars and bestial drumming. Combining shrieks with deeper snarls, allows the band to create a very effective vehicle to deliver their lyrics while the world seems to crumble with the relentless intensity of the band’s music, as we can hear both in “Obscure Divinations” and the commanding “Prayer”, which give that Behemoth vibe but with a different twist.

The mood shifts into a more melodic approach with the intense “Through Hundreds of Years”, a track that delivers excellent melodic passages and very crafty drumming to deliver engaging tempo changes while keeping the guitar brutality to the max. We particularly enjoyed the slower and more intricate tracks like “Philosopher” and our favorite, “Two Ancient Spirits” which brilliantly balance the band’s aggressive style with more introspective and melodic onslaughts.

Saving one of the most brutal for last, “Sanatory Silence” closes the release with gusto and great style by delivering twin guitar riffing assaults and waves of hellish screams. As a whole, “Fragment: Erhabenheit” is one of the most refined and yet brutal releases we have received in 2020, so if you like blistering Black/Death Metal that is well produced and aggressive start to to finish, you can’t go wrong with Theotoxin’s offering.

Label: Art of Propaganda

Release: September 11th, 2020

Genre: Black/Death Metal

Country: Austria