ESOCTRILIHUM — Mystic Echo From A Funeral Dimension (review)

ESOCTRILIHUM — Mystic Echo From A Funeral Dimension album cover

Album · 2017 · Atmospheric Black Metal

5/5 · 2017-07-30
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There isn't much known about Esoctrilihum yet, except that it's a solo project by a French musician going by the moniker Asthâghul. Mystic Echo From a Funeral Dimension (2017), is the debut album from the project, released on I, Voidhanger Records. You can currently get the album digitally while a limited (300 copies) CD run has also been produced. Having listened to the album a few times now, I have to wonder if such a small amount is going to be enough to go around...

The music on Mystic Echo From a Funeral Dimension somewhat brings to mind the cosmic work of I, Voidhanger Records labelmate Mare Cognitum, particularly during the opening track Ancient Ceremony From Astral Land, an impression no doubt enforced somewhat by the usage of artwork by the same artist (Luciana Nedelea – who also designed the band logo) as did Mare Cognitum's Phobos Monolith (2014). It's only a passing similarity though, as Esoctrilihum is quick to diversify its sound and assert its own identity as the album progresses, so couldn't be called a clone act. They definitely seem to be cut from the same cloth though. Whether you're a fan of Mare Cognitum in particular or not (though you should be), if you like black metal at all then Esoctrilihum is a name you need to start paying attention to. I cannot state enough times what an impressive debut album Esoctrilihum has created with Mystic Echo From a Funeral Dimension.

The atmospheric black metal approach of the album is flavoured mostly by non-metal elements, such as cold, haunting ambient parts during Ancient Ceremony From Astral Land or clean tone guitar work in other tracks such as Following The Mystical Light of the Shadow Forest (Final Path to Death) or Infernus Spiritas. The biggest element of flavour and perhaps the most unexpected comes about halfway through later track BltQb (Black Collapse), where the atmospheric black metal riffs are replaced by a more intense, muddy tone and the music speeds up into something that I can only ascribe to being a burst of old school (blackened) technical death metal. In fact there are also times across the release that Asthâghul's growl breaks away from the raspy black metal standard and becomes more deep and deathly. Musically apart from that one burst in BltQb (Black Collapse) this record is as black metal as they come, but I'm sure Asthâghul has drawn influence from more than one source here.

Favouring long song structures of around the eight to nine plus minute lengths, with the exception of the much shorter Prayer of the Lamented Souls, which doesn't even hit three minutes and is more of an unusual kind of interlude featuring no black metal elements beyond harsh vocals, instead drawing more of ambient themes (less cold and more majestic this time) the seven track album runs for just shy of one hour and provides one hell of a trip. The music is engaging, well preformed and powerful in sound. This is no unnecessarily stripped raw black metal release, but one that balances the traditional treble guitar tones of black metal with quality production work that gives the music a fair bit of punch. Esoctrilihum has certainly set the bar high with this debut. Undoubtedly one of the best black metal releases, atmospheric or otherwise, that will come out of 2017.