Az alámerülés lárvái

This is one I have been looking forward to for a long time. I refer to Siculicidium, the duet from Romania and their latest full length album, Az alámerülés lárvái, released seven years after their previous one. To be more specific, it was released in the 27^th of November 2020 in a digipack, cd format and in a limited to 500 copies 12” vinyl by Sun & Moon Records. Later it was released in cassette format too, limited to 100 copies by Fekete Terror Productions. In each release the band is forming their own music and aesthetics style, with their last EP, A halál és az iránytű, maybe to have some of their best released material and raised the bar. My expectations for this one were really big and that does not do any justice to the album. I have to admit that the first time I listened to it, Ι was quite disappointed. So, I had to give some time to the album and some more spins in order to get a more objective view.

The first thing you will notice is the cover and the general aesthetics of the album, is a lot darker than their previous releases. The black and white approach is used in this one too but the images of death and ritual presented here, create a darker, more threatening atmosphere for the music to be unfold. Musically, the listener will listen to that characteristic punkish, mid tempo Black Metal with some darker touches, such as some slower, atmospheric passages, some acoustic ones or some hypnotic parts. The riffs are repetitive and simple, melodic, creating melancholic feelings and night side imagery. There are some epic moments that make your head turn and refresh your interest. Some songs have very few changes, sometimes they become quite tedious and you get the feeling that there is no evolution or climax in the compositions. Moreover, those repetitive, punkish drum lines almost in every song, become annoying after a while. In other songs, the band is trying to add variety to the riffing and the tempo, adding more passages or even changing the progress of the song entirely. The duration of the songs varies from five to nine minutes, and the majority of them exceed seven minutes of duration, something that shows that the band wants to compose longer and more complex tracks. The last thing that hurt me, is the absence of instruments like the violin or the trumpet that they had included in a lot of their previous releases and they added a very unique character to their compositions.

Musically, the band is performing very well both regarding the instruments and the vocals. The band has found the style of the production that fit their music perfectly, even since some releases ago, it is warm, bassy and clean. The mixture is also perfect for their style, balanced but emphasizing the guitars and vocals. The vocals are grim and ugly as always, a nice mixture of Tormentor and Inquisition. Both acoustic and electric guitars have a flawless performance. The bass is supporting the compositions well enough. The drums are the big disappointment in this album. Don’t get me wrong, their performance is steady and passionate, almost flawless, as in the previous releases. However, their lines are so repetitive that they become so tedious at some point. The lyrics are written in Hungarian and they are included in the booklet of the cd. Apart from the titles, that they didn’t help me to understand much, there is nothing else in English here, so I don’t know what the lyrics are talking about.

In conclusion, Az alámerülés lárvái didn’t meet my expectations, although it is a good album. Some compositions are tedious while others are very interesting, also the drums in some tracks are too repetitive and the fact that they haven’t included violin or trumpet parts, is a big disappointment for me. The tracks that I liked best are Lárvabőr (Larval Skin), my favorite one, Elidegenedés – tagadás (Alienation – Denial) and Leírhatatlan gonoszságok (Indescribable Evilness). This album may lack of some of the bands creativity and passion of the past and may not meet the expectations of their fans. However it is a nice album that every Siculicidium follower have to listen to. If you haven’t listened to any of the bands previous albums, this one is a good one to start with.