ILLUMINATION (br) - Worship Death More Than Life - CD
Atmospheric, raw, and depressive, the black metallers of Brazil's ILLUMINATION include current and former members of such well-established acts as Nervochaos, Grave Desecrator, ColdBlood, Poem's Death, and Aghory among others. The band made their recorded debut with the Occult Science demo during the summer of 2021, and even then, the power-trio portended great things to come. Less than a year later, they have arrived with Worship Death More Than Life.
Aptly titled, Worship Death More Than Life is a worship-worthy iteration of depressive black metal. But whereas so much under that idiom falls under literally lifeless Burzum-worship, ILLUMINATION here create a massive and miasmic sound that retains a muscular physicality. It's atmospheric, to be sure, and melancholically melodic even more so, but Worship Death More Than Life breathes big, heaving breaths between startling tense spaces and ever-gnawing blasts of violence, going ever further downward into the darkest chasms of the soul. Indeed, with the unapologetic heaviness ILLUMINATION exude here, it's not remiss to suggest there's a parallel influence of classic doom-death of yesteryear, just transposed onto more chasmic extrapolations of the black metal umbrella.
All told, it's a haunting and (again) HEAVY experience that's all the more tantalizing given how new ILLUMINATION are. The mini-album also includes guest vocals by Devilish (Darkstorm, ex-Cult of Fire) and Renato Gimenez (Vazio), and the suitably stark cover art was painted by Francisco Shcönmann. Kneel before ILLUMINATION and Worship Death More Than Life!
Aptly titled, Worship Death More Than Life is a worship-worthy iteration of depressive black metal. But whereas so much under that idiom falls under literally lifeless Burzum-worship, ILLUMINATION here create a massive and miasmic sound that retains a muscular physicality. It's atmospheric, to be sure, and melancholically melodic even more so, but Worship Death More Than Life breathes big, heaving breaths between startling tense spaces and ever-gnawing blasts of violence, going ever further downward into the darkest chasms of the soul. Indeed, with the unapologetic heaviness ILLUMINATION exude here, it's not remiss to suggest there's a parallel influence of classic doom-death of yesteryear, just transposed onto more chasmic extrapolations of the black metal umbrella.
All told, it's a haunting and (again) HEAVY experience that's all the more tantalizing given how new ILLUMINATION are. The mini-album also includes guest vocals by Devilish (Darkstorm, ex-Cult of Fire) and Renato Gimenez (Vazio), and the suitably stark cover art was painted by Francisco Shcönmann. Kneel before ILLUMINATION and Worship Death More Than Life!