Mithridatic – Tetanos Mystique

Band: Mithridatic
Title: Tetanos Mystique
Label: XenoKorp
Release date: 13 September 2019
Country: France
Format reviewed: Digital Promo

Some of the most consistently wicked underground metal this year has come from the XenoKorp camp, so I wasn’t surprised when I came across MITHRIDATIC and their latest release “Tetanos Mystique”. These French metallers have showcased an insidious array of extreme metal since 2008 featuring the serious firepower of Kevin Paradis (Agressor and recently Benighted) behind the kit. They explore some dark subject matter on this album, dealing with abuse, mental illness, and the strange history of deliberately infecting one’s self with Tetanus (Clostridium tetani) to dive into a feverish deliria for inspiration…

“Tetanos Mystique” is a very technical album as far as MITHRIDATIC are concerned with less of a focus on blackened swarming riffs and a bit more on their technical side. Their older albums are still full of incredible killer moments, but the balance they achieve this time around creates a slow but steady killing machine that eviscerates everything in its path!

MITHRIDATIC deliver a mix of shreddage with a wild tendency to go off script with tempo changes and a grim repertoire of tools to explore the subject matter. “God’s Blindspot” starts off the album and introduces you to many aspects of the bands visceral sound. The rest of the songs are a bit more focused with a great diversity of structure from track to track. With less background atmosphere than earlier albums, they utilize sampling and structure to help set the overall tone instead. One thing that hasn’t changed though are the face melting guitar solo work peppered throughout the madness.

MITHRIDATIC are devastating and jarring, but outside of the exceptional moments they could have done more to keep things more interesting. Songs like “The Dead Mountain of Life”, “Phosphenes Aura”, and “Toothless Bite” have an unrelenting pace and some great moments but there are times I feel that more could have been done. Luckily there are songs like “Lotophagus (Lotus Eaters’ Dream)”, “The Night Torn From Herself”, “Le Sevrage”, “Tetanos Mystique” which keep the pressure on with technicality without getting too repetitive. Overall I’d say the good outweighs the negatives as this is a solid as hell release full of technical prowess and morbid curiosities. Regardless of how it is perceived, it certainly offers a disturbing voyage into the human experience. 7.5/10 Metal Yeti

 
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7.5/10 : Victory is Possible!
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