CODEX MORTIS
What Befalls Of Tainted Souls
(Vidar Records)
42:42min

A vicious uptempo riff immediately assaults your senses and doesn’t let up for the duration of the first song. The opener ‘Aveurnus’ is an uptempo double kicked fuelled, blackened barrage of Black / Death Metal, which has some tasty lead playing and some catchy tremolo and crunching riffing incorporated into it and sets the scene musically for the rest of this debut album by CODEX MORTIS from The Netherlands, who feature members of various well known bands from the Dutch extreme Metal scene. What is also very noticeable immediately is the mix of vocals which go from throat shredding high screams to deeper guttural growls. It is always good to hear a vocalist who is varied in their attack, although the screamed vocals are the dominant of the two vocal styles, which gives the album a general Black Metal atmosphere. The production is very sharp too, with each instrument cutting its way through the mix with ease, giving the riffs a chance to smoothly scythe their way through your speakers. The band also injects some slower doomier melodic passages as the album progresses, which feature some very lush guitar harmonies. This is a band with a few musical heads to a savage sonic beast, and more heads reveal themselves as the album marches on. Sometimes this writer is reminded of the more melodic Swedish Black / Death bands such as NAGLFAR, NECROPHOBIC and the like, malevolent melodies entwining with an aggressive relentless riff assault. CODEX MORTIS know how to hook you with their catchy songwriting and the mix of memorable melody and menacing malevolence is just perfect. They have struck a perfect balance there. Some of the slower morose doomier crunching riffs and lead parts even bring to mind classic CANDLEMASS at times, with their funereal musical march and sharp polished crisp tone! “What Befalls Of Tainted Souls” is a very varied and very skillfully crafted and played album which will swathe you in a cloak of darkness and devilry whilst dragging you into their aural abyss. Majestically Malignant! More info at: www.facebook.com/codexmortis, www.facebook.com/vidarrecords

Kat “Shevil” Gillham

Kat "Shevil" Gillham

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