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By JEFF MAKI
The Swedish black metal five-piece Setherial has been together since 1993. Members also participate in Blackwind, Naglfar, Bewitched and In Battle. However, having not heard any previous material, I have no frame of reference for their new release, Death Triumphant, on Sweden's Regain Records. The album is a full-frontal blast of black metal, raw and primitive, featuring no keyboards or effects. The album might as well be one song, as each track is indistinguishable from the next. The double-bass attack from drummer Mysteriis is some of the best work I've heard, sounding like a machine gun in the midst of an intense firefight. The vocals are of your typical raspy black metal indecipherable variety, but fit well with the music. Nine songs make up this release. By the time you get to number six, you will probably have had enough.
Death Triumphant is not easy on the ears and I don't think it's meant to be. You barely get a chance to breathe throughout the album, which lacks transitions and any sense of dynamics. And don't come here looking for melody; there is none here whatsoever. I surely hope that Sethereal defeat whoever they are up against or destroy their enemies and do it soon because I'm not sure the world is ready for another album such as this. The wall of noise may or may not satisfy black metal purists, but there needs to be something else here to latch on to. Upon listening to this release, I felt as if I needed to bash my head with a 2x4 repeatedly to withstand the punishment.
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