Septic Flesh - The Great Mass (2011)

I love classical music: Mozart, Chopin, Vivaldi—all the greats. I also love metal. However, it is quite rare to find an artist that joins together these vastly different styles well. (No, Apocalyptica does not either. Begin your whining.) This being said, when I was assigned Septicflesh’s latest album and found out that it included a full orchestra and a choir respectively composed of 80 musicians and 32 singers, I was skeptical. However, The Great Mass has shaped up to be the biggest surprise of the year for me so far.

The Great Mass begins with “The Vampire From Nazareth”, and undoubtedly sets the tone as a first track should. Two things struck me as surprising in this first track. One was the inclusion of a calm, yet powerful refrain complete with clean singing by Sotiris Vayenas and a soaring guitar lead. The result was a harmony of orchestra and metal, all the while driving an intriguing, very Egyptian-esque sung chant of “We offer the sun”. Secondly, was a brilliantly placed and designed breakdown, complete with a vicious call-out. What surprised me about that latter was that this is the only true breakdown in the entire album. That, coupled with the fact that Septicflesh’s style of music usually shuns these instances of brutality added another dimension to Septicflesh’s already diverse aural assault.

As for the rest of the album, Septicflesh consistently creates songs with a heavenly balance of brutality and beauty. One second, you will be assaulted by the infamous “wall of sound” as heard in Behemoth and Dimmu Borgir songs, and the next you are surrounded by floating melodies and a dark, maniacal atmosphere. The latter is something Septicflesh does so well by encompassing the orchestra. At times, the strings and horns can invoke an air of fear and uncertainty, similar to the soundtrack of a horror or epic fantasy movie (“A Great Mass Of Death”, “Five-Pointed Star”, “The Undead Keep Dreaming”), while other times they can push the already uplifting aura of certain guitar riffs to a new level. All in all, The Great Mass is one of the single best albums I have ever heard atmosphere-wise.

But as important as atmosphere is, The Great Mass is still a death metal album; we should not forget about the actual band itself, separate from the orchestra and choir. Septicflesh is not just your generic death metal band, with a generic death metal sound. Guitarists Christos Antoniou and Sotiris Vayenas unleash surprisingly melodic, groovy, angular riffs (similar to those of Atheist), while welding them with the machine-gun of a drummer Fotis Bernardo’s furious blast-beats and power-packed rhythms. Their unique songwriting prowess is demonstrated on tracks like “Five-Pointed Star”, “Oceans Of Grey”, “Therianthropy”, and the excitingly moving song “Rising”.

Also important to note is the vocals on The Great Mass, particularly the cleans. Bassist/lead vocalist Spiros “Seth” Antoniou belts out raspy, deep, and monstrous growls, but the pearl of Septicflesh’s vocal department is Vayenas’ cleans. He has a distinct, easily recognizable tone which I’m sure does not sound good acapella. However, meld it with the massive chords of “Rising”, “The Undead Keep Dreaming”, or the breathtaking finale “Therianthropy” and it puts the finishing touches on a brilliant sound.

The Great Mass will easily become one of my favorite albums of the year. The band is overstuffed with talent and uniqueness, and massively underrated. It truly sets a new standard for epic, arena-sized sound while not letting go of harsh blackened death metal roots.