Lucid Interval I: Communion

Now, while MetalReview hasn't significantly contributed to the buzz surrounding Septicflesh's "comeback" album, Communion (okay, we didn't review it, so we haven't contributed at all) this is not because it is undeserving of attention. 

Communion is a bombastic, bloated beast that's been pumped full of pomp and spit-polished to high hell. And, frankly, about half of it is pretty uninteresting - the massive death metal elements are too often eschewed in favor of overblown orchestration and iffy atmoshperics.  But sometimes -not often enough- they manage to fire their cylinders simultaneously and stir some serious shit.  The two greatest examples of this? The absolutely cavernous title track, which, combined with the band's projected artistic identity, encapsulates their intentions perfectly; and the gracefully melodic Sunlight Moonlight, which is one of the best singles that I've stumbled across this year. Unfortunate that the rest of the album ranges from mediocre to merely above-average, but perfection is tough to tackle.

Mixed feelings? Damn right, but Septicflesh has a knack for evil that's pretty damn sexy, despite the flaws.

--This post is the first of a weekly series. I will provide a song or two for weekend jamming, with the intention of drumming up converstation, debate, and interest in bands and music that are both high and low-profile, heavy metal and non.--