« The Impaler«
Self-Released/Independent
2010
Emerging from the darkest recesses of the U.S.of A., MYTHOLOGY boast a sound and aesthetic altogether built upon the foundations of Swedish Black/Death but with a foot firmly planted in Thrash as well. From their inception in 2004, the band have released a plethora of demos, two split albums and an EP before finally culminating in “The Impaler”, a record inspired by the life and times of 15th century Romanian warlord, Vlad Tepesh/Dracul.
Like the opening credits to an epic film, “The Impaler” begins with a keyboard instrumental, “Towards Wallachia” before plunging into “The Forest of the Impaled”, a vicious barrage of blast beats and impressive guitar riffing. From there, MYTHOLOGY immerse themselves in Teutonic Blackened Thrash with dual styled vocals, one of a rasp and the other more of a growl, courtesy of vocalist, Gallows. “Barbaric Warfare” recalls some of the ‘80’s German bands in its approach and rhythm attack, most notably, SODOM. An effective mid-paced crunch and variation gives the song character and certainly can be construed as a highlight!
“As Time Strangely Passes” provides relief somewhat as the instrumental quickly merges into “A Call of the Night”, a strong Blackened beast with both spiteful vocals occasionally overlapping. An interesting, clear bass line jumps out only to be engulfed once again by the wall of guitar distortion, a nuance that could be exploited further? What’s more, “Suffering Unbound” is perhaps the slowest number on “The Impaler” and features an audible bass gargle and chuggy, melodic rhythm section while “The Dragon’s Fall” includes a lumbering, melancholic main riff as the momentum slowly builds to reveal a harrowing finale! What MYTHOLOGY manages to accomplish quite well is to provide a portrait of events and adding a soundtrack to perfectly match the lyrical content.
Altogether, with striking covers of DARKTHRONE’s “Transilvanian Hunger” and BATHORY’s “Pace ‘Till Death”, MYTHOLOGY’s debut record is one which stokes the infernal fires of Black/Death plus raises the horns to Thrash too! Strong on variation, “The Impaler” paints a vivid picture of history all the while providing a grim sonic template!
Standout Tracks: “Barbaric Warfare”, “Suffering Unbound”, “The Dragon’s Fall”, “A Strigoi Awakens” (outro)
8/10
Chris
