Septic Flesh - Communion [2008]

It's clear from the first 40 seconds of "Lovecraft's Death" that the orchestra writing and integration has hit a new level of greatness. Possibly the best use of orchestra in metal thus far. "Babel's Gate" reinforces the epic songwriting and new-found variability in the music, even if the flow is sacrificed in the process. The dynamics are interesting since they use a lot of empty "middle-space" during high-energy moments to create suspense... it's very effective. Sure a decent amount of the guitar riffs are really just backing for the epic orchestra, but shit, I really don't care about that with the rest of the material being so great. This is the same leap from Sumerian Daemons that SD was from Revolution DNA.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.myspace.com/septicfleshband

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Septic Flesh - Sumerian Daemons [2003]

Jesus fuck, "unbeliever" starts the album off as a completely different animal than I had gotten used to on Revolution DNA; so fucking powerful it's scary. "Virtues of the Beast" puts all of my fears to rest by returning to the more sedate Gothic feel that they effectively captured on RDNA... and then "Faust" switches things back to the more brutal feel that "Unbeliever" had. Well, in the end, this album managed to come damn close to fixing one of the main issues I had with previous albums: the feeling of repetitiveness by the end of the album. There are a few songs in the middle that feel fairly similar, but the nearly constant switching back and forth between brutality and sedatives in between songs really kept the album interesting for me. The keyboard parts deserve special mention as they are flawlessly written and executed. The addition of choir really adds depth to the music as well. Overall, this album is a great step forward from RDNA.

Rating: 8

http://www.myspace.com/septicfleshband

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Septic Flesh - A Fallen Temple [1998]

Still has a dark tone to it. Production isn't as polished as RDNA and the songs aren't as catchy. Still, good and unique Gothic Metal.

Rating: 7

http://www.myspace.com/septicfleshband

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Septic Flesh - Revolution DNA [1999]

This has much better production than the earlier albums. It's not as off-the-wall creative as them, but the song writing is much improved; making the songs listenable and good (unlike the previous crap). The album starts off with a Rotting Christ feel (especially on vox). The second track gets more into the experimentation side and has a very eerie sound. First three songs definitely have a Rotting Christ feel to the song writing and speed. Props for being a little different, but you still need to be "in the mood" to really enjoy the whole CD… so it drags a bit, just like Rotting Christ.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.myspace.com/septicfleshband

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.