Saphath - Ascension of the Dark Prophet (2022)

Creating a very unique mixture of Black/Death/Gothic Metal, today we have Russia’s Saphath and their debut full-length release “Ascension of the Dark Prophet”. Delivering over 44 minutes of music, the ten tracks in this release nicely blend elements from bands like Behemoth, Moonspell, Epica, Dark Tranquillity, and creates a very bombastic and engaging listening experience with tons of hidden details to discover.

Opening with the lush “Children of the Night”, the band delivers vibrant guitars alongside a mixture of aggressive vocals and crafty tempo changes. The music is heavy, but with enough room to incorporate melodic passages and fierce guitar solos. This more melodic and bombastic nature comes front and center in pieces like “Outcast of Eden”, the gothic “Darkness Unleashed”, and the Moonspell-esque “Broken Mirror”. All tracks blend their influences quite well, and still manage to deliver a certain modern Metal edge as shown in “The Daughter of Ice Pains”.

With a more cinematic side, “Asphodel Meadows” has nice Power/Symphonic Metal foundations and crafty vocal arrangements. The interplay between the very nicely produced guitars and the hectic drumming is quite effective, as we can hear in punishing songs like “Language of my Pain” and “The Raven”. We particularly enjoy the latter and its epic guitar leads and headbanging melodic interludes. For those with more Gothic Metal/Rock inclinations, “Your God” nicely reminded us of bands like To/Die/For and Charon.

Closing with the lively “The Land of my Dreams”, Saphath has managed to nicely integrate plenty of exciting influences into a very cohesive and bombastic sound. The band’s arrangements are top notch, from the piercing guitars, to the lush choirs, all the way to the diverse vocal styles. If you are looking for a rich and engaging aural experience, look no further and discover what this up and coming band has to offer.

Label: Self-Releas

Release: April 8th, 2022

Genre: Symphonic/Gothic Dark Metal

Country: Russia