Lamenting Satanas – Scorn
Band: Lamenting Satanas
Title: Scorn
Label: Independent
Release date: July 5th, 2024
Country: USA
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Recording
Wow. Just wow. I started listening to “Scorn” just because I saw the album in our zine’s folder full of promos, and as I had listened to two singles before and I liked them, I thought “let’s try this full thing”. And I couldn’t be happier with my decision, what a banger I’ve found here!
The whole album maintains a high level of intensity from start to finish. So, it’s not a roller coaster with ups and downs, but like a wagon that stays at the top of the trail all the time. And this is extremely difficult to accomplish. Not a single smooth track, not a lot of air to breathe once you start listening to these 13 songs. Ah maybe you think it’s a long album, but it clocks in at 46 minutes long because some of the tracks are under 3 minutes. And this makes it very dynamic.
“The Tormentor” puts things clearly, it goes with a dark ambiance, drums are pummeling hard and guitars play cold and unholy riffs nonstop, even the solo has the urge to play fast and intricate… Vocals are harsh, malefic, the kind of evil raspy screams you want to hear when you land on a Blackened Death Metal album, and sometimes I wonder what goes stronger, what has a harder grip, the music or the vocals, and the answer is both. Some samples at the beginning and the use of ambient keyboards turn this song into an intense opener you don’t dare to ignore… And then, “The Witch” smashes all your senses; this is the first single I listened to by Lamenting Satanas and the moment I pressed “play” it blew my mind with its aggression… It’s a three-minute run inside the realms of insanity.
One of the aspects that make me think of “insanity” to refer to this album is the intensity and speed of the drums. The bass drum runs like crazy at full throttle, and the varied patterns at cymbals, toms, and snare make me fall in love with this drummer from minute zero. Also, when blast beats kick in, you feel mercilessly rolled by them. There are some breaks in the songs and I guess otherwise this man would die of exhaustion.
I love the cold tone of the guitars and the perfect way they intertwine with the bass, and I also like a lot that this instrument can be really audible and doing some “cool bass stuff” at times, really appreciated! Like in “Writhing”, I can’t help but listen to the bass lines that in some way are highlighted, and that’s cool. Also in “Cipher”, there are vibing bass lines here to enjoy.
As I’ve mentioned before, the vocals are of an evil type, dark and like dragging something in its path, and when it’s time to scream, oh this man screams out of his lungs like possessed!
The closing theme, “The Satanist”, is a total display of evil aggression, as if there hasn’t been enough all through the album, with a stellar guitar solo and the most breathtaking vocal performance… what a way to end!
Ah did you take a good look at the band’s logo? Maxwell Aston is responsible for it, and let me tell you, I like those twisted letters resembling roots, disposed in a kind of symmetrical position, and the trees, the leaking moon (kind of fashioned “horns up” resemble), and the starry night above them… Sometimes the logo gives very good information about the band’s music, and Lamenting Satanas made a great choice with this one. Details, details that matter…
This is an astonishing debut album… I can’t imagine what will come next! 9/10 by Sílvia
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9/10 Epic Storm
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