THEOTOXIN find a good balance between usual Black Metal aggression and melodic restraint and internalize the credo that constant blowing is tiring and degenerates into an end in itself.
For the most part, the musicians let off steam in the high-speed range, but ritualistic chants or epic song structures offer room for a dynamic approach. Thus, for five minutes, the excessive piece Prayer moves in a quite conventional way in the pitch-black metal cosmos, before wonderfully melodic guitars set the tone in the background.
Big gestures, symphonic bombast or bold choruses the five warriors do not throw at our feet, because here the peculiarities happen in the second row, so to speak, and are only discovered little by little. The quintet attaches great importance to the guitar work, and thus finely woven harmonies shimmer through again and again in Through Hundreds Of Years; the temporally reduced part with recitative and strong drums also weaves atmospherically dense sound carpets.
The rather sluggishly arranged Two Ancient Spirits stands out in terms of slowed tempo and evokes a threateningly dark aura, but in my opinion, it remains too much in one emotional state and would have needed a contrast motif for refinement.
THEOTOXIN save the strongest piece for the end, because the finale Sanatory Silence shines with a perfect fusion of different vocal styles, groovy blasts and delicate melodies combined with groovy vehemence.
Thus, I feel that this album is finally well done and grows in its urgency with every pass, because the devil is hidden in the enigmatic details!