STREAMING: Septicflesh “A Great Mass of Death”

You know, it wasn’t just me that went apeshit over Septicflesh’s previous album, Communion. Yes, I thought Sumerian Demons sucked, so going from suck-a-puck (it’s hockey playoff time) to rule-the-school (it’s exam time) is quite an accomplishment for the longstanding Greeks. Decibel contributor, The Mountain Goats mainman, and Stephen Colbert-approved John Darnielle also felt the alluring netherworldly pull from Septicflesh’s atmospheric, orchestral death.
Well, if trends are significant (down-up-down-up kind of thing), Septicflesh’s new album, The Great Mass, should revert the Athens-based quartet back to suck status. Turns out, The Great Mass doesn’t sound like Therion in a leopard print leotard. There are oodles of Therion albums for that, actually. No, The Great Mass improves on Communion‘s orchestral death march into the gaping abyss. Check out what main string-tugger Christos Antoniou had to say about upping Septicflesh’s musical ante.

“‘The Great Mass’ is a post-apocalyptic liturgy of symphonic death. In order to make this vision possible, 150 musicians were involved,” explains Antoniou. “We utilized the FILMharmonic choir and orchestra of Prague, as we wanted to give a more cinematic feeling to the music. Actually, the specific orchestra has appeared on soundtracks for films as Starship Troopers, Hostel 1 & 2 and more recently The Mechanic, to name a few. We tried to push the boundaries of our music, without leaving behind our extreme heavy sound. For that reason we collaborated with known artist/producer Peter Tägtgren. We are very excited from the result, as everything is well balanced while the sound is imposing and heavy as hell.”

Septicflesh: “A Great Mass of Death” by Decibel Magazine

** Septicflesh’s new album, The Great Mass, is out now on Season of Mist. Order it here.