It’s no secret how much I love black metal. So as a result, I get a ton of this music in my mailbox. There simply isn’t enough time to listen, let alone digest it all. But when I listened to Meister Leonhardt’s second album Thanatopoeia I was very intrigued by this Russian act.
The things that make this music desirable for me were all there: raspy, tortured vocals, and an overall sense of evil. I was just drawn in from the first listen and continue to be. Right from the beginning of “Bliss of Impermanence” you can feel something in the air… Meanwhile “Defossion Transcendence” is a straight-up black metal anthem with a nod to The Sisters Of Mercy, so obviously this was a favorite track. On the next tunes “Malevolence Supreme” and “Quiescence In Throes” the band goes full on deep and dark which only drew me in further.
“Fulcurm” features a nod to punk, which I usually hate, but here it works. “Tomb Ore” is very much a dirty number, and you can feel yourself getting muddy. “The Image Paradigm” was another favorite because it goes right for the jugular and still has that menacing feeling. Closing the disc is “Taphotaxis” a track that quite frankly I wasn’t into at first. But it grew on me and got into my brain. All in all, Meister Leonhardt have delivered a great record, and if you love black metal then this is for you.
Standout Tracks: “The Image Paradigm”, “Defossion Transcendence”, “Malevolence Supreme”