I’m sure all the black metal faithful will be up in arms by the statement that follows next, but Zyklon is a far better musical unit than Emperor ever was.
Sure, that’s huge praise and probably somewhat hard to believe, but Zyklon is back for a third time with an even stronger dose of anger than when we last left the band. Emperor founder Samoth has found a creative zone with Zyklon that he was unable to capture with Emperor … more than likely because that band became so violated with opinions on direction from multiple layers of personnel in the band.
As this band continues, you can’t help but see the growth from album to album. Their 2001 debut, World Ov Worms, made a statement that they were hear and ready to make noise. By 2003, they had evolved away from the overwhelming black metal references you could put on Samoth and company, as Aeon showed a brutalizing band that was far beyond 95% of the bands out there.
This year Zyklon seems to have finally started to hit on all cylinders. Disintegrate is a technically brilliant, amazingly fast, and furious collection of thrashing death like nothing else out there today. Vocalist Secthdamon (who is also in the band Myrkskog) just destroys every note of every song. Beyond brutal on menacing tracks like “Ways Of The World,” this brutality veteran proves that he’s every bit the vocal assassin that Daemon was before him when the band first started up.
Add to that his hammer-dropping basslines, and you’ll understand why he’s such an important part of Disintegrate. Secthdamon teams up with drummer Trym (Emporer/Enslaved) to create one of the most lethal backends in the history of extreme metal.
Without question though, the strength of Zyklon continues to be the blitzing, maniacal guitar work of Samoth and lead guitarist Destructhor. Also a member of Myrkskog, Destructhor seemingly saves up his best playing to share in Zyklon. He’s a brilliant extreme soloist, as is evident on moody, yet speed tracks like “Subversive Faith.”
Article comments
1 - Guppusmaximus
Neuraxis "Trilateral Progression" will change your mind....
2 - Connie Phillips
This article has been placed at the Advance.net websites, a site affiliated with about 12 newspapers.
One such site is here.