adg211288 Greek musician Ayloss is of course best known for his atmospheric black metal project Spectral Lore, being particularly well regarded for the double album III (2014). Perhaps less known is the fact that aside from Spectral Lore he was a member of the melodic death metal act Divine Element. The band released their self-titled debut album in 2010 and at some point presumably disbanded. Now reformed with a condensed line-up of Ayloss on instruments and Antonis on vocals, their second album Thaurachs of Borsu (2017) has finally been unleashed. Prolific death metal drummer Hannes Grossmann (ex-Necrophagist, ex-Obscura, Alkaloid et al) has also been brought in as a guest musician for this release.

One thing that will be clear to anyone familiar with Ayloss' work with Spectral Lore is that this isn't one of those cases where a musician operates in multiple acts that are ultimately very similar in style, as there isn't all that much to do with black metal in Divine Element's music. Fans are sure to recognise the tasteful atmospheric guitar work of the Spectral Lore mastermind during some of the lighters parts, but on Thaurachs of Borsu they're mixed in with speedy and direct melodic death metal riffs. The difference in core genre also means that there are much more forceful growls from Antonis than those of Ayloss on Spectral Lore's albums. There's enough here in the music to recognise it as the work of the same musician, but it's also very much a different side to him. And that's great, since we already have one Spectral Lore.

The band's use of melody also provides a very slightly folksy sound to their music, notable in a track like Beyond This Sea. Their overall style is less catchy compared to the work of more mainstream melodic death metal acts like Arch Enemy or Scar Symmetry, but no less epic in its delivery. The production is polished and the riffs are punchy. An early standout is the title track, but there's little letting up beyond that point, Traitor's Last Stand at the other end of the album being another key track. The band do throw in a trio of shorter instrumentals that serve the roles of intro, interlude and outro as well though, meaning that if there's a disappointment to be had with Thaurachs of Borsu it's that there are only actually five fully developed melodic death metal tracks, leaving the total running time shy of the forty minute mark. The band haven't lost any of their creative energy by its conclusion, so another track or two would have been nice to pad it out into a more substantial slab of metal.

For the material that is here though to my ears it's melodic death metal done right. This is a genre that I often find stale and uninteresting, but Divine Element have been able to avoid the usual pitfalls with their creative writing and commanding vocals. While I am currently hoping for a new Spectral Lore album to be released I hope it's not another seven years since we get more Divine Element as well.