Strychnos - Armageddon Patronage

Strychnos is a black/death metal band from Denmark who formed in 1998.  Their latest album, “Armageddon Patronage,” is their second full-length album.  They have also released two demos, an EP and a compilation. 

I haven’t heard their first album (yet) but I’m definitely a fan now because “Armageddon Patronage,” is a beast of an album.  It’s dark, grim, pulverizing and has such an incredibly hellish atmosphere.  In that respect it somewhat reminds me of Immolation’s “Harnessing Ruin,” in that the atmosphere is just as important as any other element of the song but it exists as such an integral part that it still envelops the songs as a cohesive force. 

It’s a methodical album to many degrees, incorporating elements that some bands this extreme might not be able to pull off quite as well.  Similar to the new Heresiarch album “Edifice,” the songs incorporate some doom elements that turn the songs into even more uncompromising journeys.   But Strychnos go a step further as their sound is even darker, murkier, and just straight up filthy.  There is a certain charm to the atmosphere, despite how utterly hopeless it seems to be.

The album comes roaring in like a spreading fire with “Winds Warning The Final Storm.”  The slower pacing lets the crush creep in like an unstoppable living force.  The vocals are depravity incarnate, a herald of things not meant to ever be seen.  The song steadily builds towards what amounts to the music version of an earthquake.  A hell of a way to open the album but it's just getting started. 

The title track brings in an immediate bulldozer of a rift with the brutality of death metal but the searing venom of black metal.  The depraved vocals pull an nearly incomparable essence through the twisted passages.  Around the 2:07 mark, the rhythm guitar hammers it in before turning into some kind of demonic tornado. 

“Pale Black Birds,” is one of my favorite songs on the album.  I really like the pacing of the song and how it begins with dark clean tones.  The solo that gives birth from them is natural and surprisingly moving.  The build up is masterful and by the time the song kicks into high gear, the grimy darkness is unstoppable.  The last minute or so uses melody in a very sinister way, capping off everything in a way only this album could.

The final song “Nattevandreriden,” is a dirge made of slower to mid paced tempos mixed with starling bursts of speed.  The band’s special touch of melody heightens the atmosphere greatly, almost like a death metal with a shade of gothic misanthropy.  The rapid fire drumming  that cut under the guitar solo that builds into insanity while the blackened death creates a tempest is one of the best moments on the album.

Strychnos’ “Armageddon Patronage,” is an utterly impressive album that is constantly pushing itself beyond the edge of extremity.  The way the band has mixed in styles, melody and atmosphere into this huge miasma of death is fascinating.