Omen Ex Simulacra is a difficult record - one that twists and forms new shapes as it progresses, one that falls into an unfathomable abyss and crawls back out again. It’s dark, overwhelming and grossly pregnant with malevolence and the base duo of Ævangelist are masters of noise control, giving their record a cacophony of sounds to work with and creating a coherent sphere for them to sit in. It’s worth spending some ample time getting under Omen Ex Simulacra’s skin in order to pry little moments of disgust out from under the heavier shrouds of filth.
Opener “Veils” comes on like a bastardised industrial work; stomping mechanical beats interact with synthesised, almost human female voices – their choral aspect taking on a deeply sinister tone and warping into screams at times – while vocalist Ascaris dredges the very depths of his own hell with a performance that sits at the very end of the guttural, death metal scale. It’s wholly terrifying and the atmosphere that Ævangelist conjure is one that is oppressive, cruel and woefully bleak and this sickness writhes through Omen Ex Simulacra from desolate beginning to foul end.
“Mirror of Eden” fires into unholy life on swarming levels of sound – created by Matron Thorn of the incredibly prolific Benighted In Sodom – and continues its descent into the lowest circles of hell on blasphemous screams and outrageously overpowering landscapes of clashing noise. This is death metal at its most primitive, most sinful, most profane and where Ævangelist eschew modern traditions – breakdowns, slamming guitars and blastbeats galore, they instead evoke something significantly more dangerous in their work. They share more in common with projects such as Gnaw Their Tongues, The Axis Of Perdition, T.O.M.B., or Portal than they do with more traditional bands in the genre.
Penultimate track “Seclusion” is an agonising assault on the senses with those synth lines fading in and out and the guitars often stumbling on a moment of beauty before falling back into complete and utter viciousness, Ævangelist forming total darkness out of the fabric of the instrumentation before “Abysscape” drags its foul, horrid sounds to the absolute bottom. Ascaris growls into being with a line that seems neverending in its proclamation while industrial beats filter into view and curl around ever increasing spheres of madness. Omen Ex Simulacra is truly impure and the repulsive nature of the music is demanding in its complication. While you feel as those you’ll never be clean again, you can’t help but fall under its hypnotic, deadly, filthy spell.
