Taphos - Come Ethereal Somberness (EN)

Although there is no indication of the date of foundation of the Danes Taphos, all indications point to 2015/2016. So far, they released two demos and now they deliver their debut album. In addition, a tour with Degial is announced in the info sheet.

Why is that important? Well, the name Degial stands for a certain kind of Death Metal which is exactly what Taphos is pursuing. They aim for the gloomy ride here. The tempo is quite variable and there are many dark melodies unlike Degial. Listen to "Impending Peril", as you will encounter these kind of melodies in its trailing parts. The slightly slower parts also reveal a penchant for Black / Thrash just like Destroyer 666.

Due to the rather nagging vocals, there is a certain tendency towards Black Metal anyway, but that never gets overwhelming due to the strong (old) Morbid Angel bias. Especially within "Insidious Gyres" these elements shimmer through the song structure. The bass bangs out of the speakers finely and gives thereby a lot of power to the songs. The drummer is pounding through the tracks confidently and filigree. You can tell that there is a lot of heart blood in it.

Regarding the sound there is nothing to complain about either. The whole album sounds clear and brutal without developing into a Loudness War or into a too sterile sound. So all right in the state of Denmark? Not exactly, since the duration is a bit disappointg which is quite common nowadays. Finally, you can subtract from the 35 minutes almost 5 minutes for the intro, interlude and outro.

Conclusion:
A fine, nasty piece of Death Metal. More accessible and diversified for me than Degial's, as they give the songs time to build up and eventually process some hooks. As written, the duration is a little too short, so half a dot deduction. Otherwise a cool work !!!

Rating: 7,5/10

Recommendation: Insidious Gyres