25 April 2024

Septicflesh – Codex Omega

[schema type=”review” name=”Septicflesh- Codex Omega” description=”Label: Season of Mist / Prosthetic Records ” author=”Basak Günel” pubdate=”2017-09-01″ ]

When we are talking about extreme/symphonic death metal, Septicflesh is one of the names that comes to mind. Formed in 1990, the Greek formation has been delivering us some fine extreme metal ranging from death/doom (in the early days) to symphonic metal. With a long history like that, they have released 10 albums with the last one being “Codex Omega” which has been released recently.

Filled with the bombastic and authentic Septicflesh sound, “Codex Omega” is a great example of the harmony of extreme and symphonic metal. If you are especially into ethnic elements and symphonies, you will get hooked instantly. The album being technical, fast and aggressive also add another dimension to it; when all of these aspects are taken into account, “Codex Omega” is like a huge mosaic with each element being little surprises waiting to be open and discovered. The main highlight is the element of orchestrations though; the listener will definitely be hooked and curious to know the concept of the album upon hearing the orchestrations and the symphonies. Surely there are lots of bands out there who follow this direction but I can definitely say Septicflesh does it differently and majestically. That being said, the orchestrations also felt like a movie soundtrack and I recognized it better when I span the second CD which consists of 3 instrumental bonus tracks. Add the technical elements like the growls and the drums and the record gets even more majestic… so “Codex Omega” definitely has a lot to offer!

One point I would criticize would be the clean vocals. Throughout the album, we will get to hear the growls as well as clean vocals but I personally think that the growls fit the album a lot more and the clean vocals were a bit weak compared to that. Especially considering the orchestrations, the growls fit a lot more to the album’s style. In this aspect, I prefer the first half of the album as it represents the sound quite well.

“Codex Omega” is definitely recommended to the lovers of extreme and technical side of metal as well as for the lovers of the oriental and ethnical elements in metal.

Line-up:
Seth Siro Anton – bass, vocals
Christos Antoniou – guitars, orchestral
Sotiris Anunnaki V. – guitars & clean vocals
Kerim “Krimh” Lechner – drums & percussion

 

 

Tracklist:

CD1:
01. Dante’s Inferno
02. 3rd Testament
03. Portrait of a Headless Man
04. Martyr
05. Enemy of Truth
06. Dark Art
07. Our Church Below The Sea
08. Faceless Queen
09. The Gospels of Fear
10. Trinity

CD2:
01. Martyr of Truth (Bonus Track)
02. Dark Testament (Bonus Track)
03. Portrait of a Headless Man (Bonus Track)

Links:
Septicflesh Official
Septicflesh Facebook