The mysterious one-man black metal project from France known as Esoctrilihum, has released the third album in his career and his second full-length of 2018. There isn’t much known about the man behind this mysterious project, Asthâghul, save for the fact that he creates some of the most haunting, experimental and truly innovative black metal in the genre. How many bands do you think can pump out two full-length masterworks like these in less than one year? The first album he released this year, Pandaemorthium, is very different yet also a very similar step as this record. This is what black metal should truly embody: mystery, a cacophonous barrage of pure evil vocals, blast beats, tremolo picking and some of the best black metal guitar leads that have been put to a recording.
All three records have been released via I, Voidhanger Records and this collection of albums truly put Asthâghul in the legend tier of black metal artists. The third record, Inhüma, released October 19, does not begin in a subtle fashion whatsoever. This is by far his least accessible record to fans with next to no experience in listening to experimental black metal.
The first track on this record, “Incursus Into Daeth Hausth,” truly sets the pace at which this record will travel: at a breakneck speed. Each track progresses to faster, heavier, harder, more harrowing, bleak and simply evil music. Near the finale, the seventh track, “Aevendh Sadh,” begins very atmospheric, slow and the buildup to complete agony near the two minute mark truly shows Asthâghul‘s skill when composing his music.
Now the last track is something special. “Lo?rth Volth Lynhnzael” begins with some beautiful strings, something absent until now throughout the duration of this record. The strings slowly become lost in the sheer insanity of the thunderous guitars and pounding drums and the reason why this is important is because this completely embodies the overarching themes of the record; sanity to insanity, love to hate, good to evil and light to darkness. The track begins calm, reaches a terrifying high, yet still closes very melodic and smooth.
Esoctrilihum has released yet another masterwork and with each album that releases, it appears more certain that this man has endless ideas and truly innovates a genre that can very often seem fatigued in its own formula. Along with his previous masterpiece records Mystic Echo From A Funeral Dimension (2017) and Pandaemorthium (2018), Inhüma is just different enough to create a record that is somehow in a similar vein yet even better than the previous two. If you believe in “true black metal”, this is definitely it. This man holds nothing back as his unique artistic vision and innovative take on the often stale genre is something that drives the genre to new highs. T
his record just might be my favorite black metal record of all time after several consecutive listens. You don’t have too many creative minds like this around anymore and all the support you give him by buying his CDs/downloads can help him make more masterpieces along the lines of Inhüma. This is one of the best albums to ever grace the underground. I suggest you turn off Uada and put something a bit much less generic. This record perfectly showcases beauty in the dismal.
