Flagellated Seraph     

Beyond Salvation

Hellthrasher Productions 2012

Swedish black metal upstarts Flagellated Seraph begin their new album with one of the best intros I have heard in a long time.  Reminiscence Of The Serpent is a completely mournful doom instrumental that fills your heart with sorrowful yearning.  Slowly plodding, repetitive and filled with forlorn melodies, your heart is ripped from your chest before the firestorm of the album's main tracks scorch you to ashes.  He Who Wears The Mark literally bursts out of the speakers with speed and melodic movements that exhale a blackened atmosphere.  Listening to the production and songwriting I am reminded somewhat of Unanimated's debut.  Especially in the way they add a death metal edge to the music while still maintaining a rough, organic sound.  The title-track is up next and the guitars scrape before succumbing to hollow riffs and speedy gusts of speedy black metal destruction.  I am the Flame is riddled with moldy bass lines and mossy melodies that speak of the deep, dark forests where Flagellated Seraph have unearthed their arcane, black metal secrets.  Hyper arcs of melodic guitars streak across a star-filled sky as the song streams out of my stereo.  The track drops into a hammering beat and some sinister synth before once again flying out at intense tempos.  A monstrous undulating current of riffs rolls within Redeemer of Nothingness before an emotionally charged, melodic guitar solo flows like cool waterfalls.  This is soon swept away by a killer break and swaying melodies.  Warped guitar and a lethargic beat create a melancholic tone for the final track, Casus Belli.  The track borders on funeral doom, replete with organ synth and a dismal melody.  If your appetite for atmospheric, blackened death in the vein of Unanimated needs to be sated, then Flagellated Seraph will fill your mouth with blood-soaked earth and lower you into your grave.