Reviews: Thy Shining Curse, Sujin, Romuvos, Kiva (Reviews By Matt Bladen & Zak Skane)

Theurgia begins our descent into the dark world of Thy Shining Curse, liturgical soprano vocals to evoke the beginnings of a church sermon but then the blistering death metal riffs and blastbeats come in and church is very much out of the window as we were in much earlier forms of belief with Theurgia. Meaning Divine Work it was a belief by Neo-Platoists that human beings can achieve perfection and happiness without the fear of an afterlife, returning to ‘The One’ that created them, these ideas are used as part of this concept record, as each song depicts the struggles of mortals to return to ‘The One’ using sacrifice, rituals, and other less honest methods. Depicting characters from Greek literature I could bang on about the history behind them ad-nausea but seeing as this is a music review I suppose I should actually tell you about the music.

Thy Shining Curse is the creation of Leonidas, keyboardist and orchestrator, forming the band in 2021, it’s his creative vision that is the basis of this band, his orchestral swells and synths that are what makes this album creatively impressive. Similar to a band like Septicflesh and Xerath, it’s the cinematic compositions that make up the bulk of this record with Gabe Pietrzak’s guitars adding some melodeath riffs and solos as Cezar Moreira’s vocals snarl and growl, through these tales of classical philosophy/theology based Pythagorean tradition, the Eleusinian mysteries, Neoplatonism and Western Esotericism. 

The band keeping their identities a mystery adding to the mystique around them but they’re music is very extroverted, the clash of classical instrumentation and death metal brutal and beautiful as Abyssaoth evolves from crushing riff into jazzy sax, as Aesahaettr brings industrial punishment and operatic female vocals with a killer guitar solo to top it off. It’s all a bit breath-taking and we’re only two songs in. Acephale puts more modern death metal riffs against heavy use of piano and more solo supremacy. Lenore though has more of gothic tendency to it as the strings used to epic effect on Heptacletus, the penultimate track on this record. 7 tracks actually is well enough, as any more may inspire fatigue due to the sheer volume of music on offer. Melmoth of course being the most complex song on the album, shifting between themes and styles in five minutes, leaving you spent but also wanting to go again. 

This is a majestic debut album but not for those looking for an easy ride. 9/10

Sujin – Save Our Souls (Scarlet Recordfs) [Zak Skane]

As soon as the eerie atmospheric introduction ends the opening track Save Our Souls brings in the thrashy melodic death metal goodness with it’s galloping rhythms, face tearing tremolo picking that’s mixed in with some classic minor/major third harmonies whilst the vocals on this track are very reminiscent of Anders Friden vocal delivery of the Clayman-era, whilst the clean baritone vocals remind us of Bjorn Strid from Soilwork. The following the track Ashes From the Abyss brings us onto bouncy metal core groovy-ness with its rhythm guitars locked with punchy double kicks in classic fusion with the lead guitars playing some traditional pull off melody lines that are very reminiscent of band like Miss May I and August Burns Red especially when the vocalist is channelling Jake Luhrs level of growls. 

Dead World Beyond brings in some Unearth styled balls to the wall energy with its technical riffs, exotic solos and machine gun fired double kicks. The vocals are still being pushed to the limits by protecting some bawl rumbling gutturals to vocal tearing highs. To end the first half of the album Wasted Progress ventures into mid tempos and melodic arrangements the guitars are trading extended chords sequences with classic metalcore pedal tone riffs. To open up the second part of the album some short but sweet drum fills begins Bleeding Chains’ sonic brew of groovy but slightly djenty riffs, punishing breakdowns and hard-core inspired stab chords. Whilst the punishing instrumentation is carried out the return of the Bjorn Strid styled vocals have made a gracious return in the chorus sections. 

Other highlights on the album is the God Forbid styled track Dagon with it’s eastern sounding guitar harmonies and biblical lyrics whilst Insanity brings in a Metallica inspired intro followed by half time grooves and even some Death inspired progressive passages. The closing track Winter Breeze gives us a chilling lo-fi sounding lullaby until we are smashed in the face with some Viking styled 6/8 rythmed riffs, chanty choruses and mid tempo Amon Amarth styled riffs. Even though the audio quality of this album is a bit on the rough side this has not stopped the band from executing every track on this album with fiery passion, to some extents it actually adds more grit to their sound, especially on songs like Ashes From The Abyss, Dead World Beyond and Bleeding Chains. 

If you are fan of bands like In Flames, Soilwork and God Forbid this is the one for you. 7/10

Romuvos - Spirits (Hammerheart Records) [Zak Skane]

Throughout his whole album the band have captured the historical Baltic culture perfectly, from the throat singing that sewn across each track resonates deep to our ancestry core. The hypnotic chants on tracks like Snake Dance, World Tree and Garden Of The Sun along with the immersing layers of whispers, panting and droning harmonies have really captured those ancient cultural aspects down to a tee. 

The thundering percussion of drums, the chilling rattling and chiming of shakers channel our inner warrior whilst the swinging rhythms of the acoustic guitars sooths us with it’s chiming chords. In the relation to the metal instrumentations within tracks like Sun And The Mourning Star and World Tree they add more rhythmical textures to the folkly arrangements. It’s not until halfway through the album that tracks like Sprits Of The Oak and Fire push the guitar riffs to the centre point providing pinched harmonics and soaring leads.

This is a great listen for folk metallers that like their music with a bit more depth such as MYRKUR and Wardruna. The layers of the folk instrumentation along with entwined harmonies of throat sung vocals are married with the pounding metallic rhythms of the band, providing a pleasant atmospheric listen. but this can be a slow burn listen for other battle metal fans that like their up beats such as Amon Amarth and Sabaton. 8/10

Kiva - An Elegy Of Scars And Past Reflections (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

Post/sludge can be something of a niche, within a niche, often involving long slow, repeating passages of dissonant, distorted riffs that then turn into single ringing, also repeating notes. The genre is about catharsis and how music feels, not always technical ability, it’s about connecting with an audience at the base level. 

Bands such as Amenra, The Ocean and Cult Of Luna can be seen as some of the best examples of this style, enveloping you in waves of heavy riffs and vocal growls/shouts before they lurch into blissful moments of ambience. Kiva are made up of veterans of the Greek scene and they have learnt from the lessons of those bands mentioned to create this unnerving, unwavering 40 minutes of catharsis. Impressive from the blast of loudness that is In Silence, Woe Is Me is more introspective building on a spatial bass/guitar/drum riff into a mountainous aggression. 

The introspection gets more rage filled on Delusion which features Victor Kaas from LLNN while From The Ego Of Our Ancestors brings a ritualistic approach again, layering and building across nearly nine minutes. Kiva create primal music that will drag you into the vast shadow they create. 7/10