Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 12:53 PM by Nikos Nakos
Genre: Death / Doom Metal
Country: France
Label: Godz ov War Productions
Year: 2016
Despite having been active since 2014, Autokrator from France do not waste time and count two full length albums under their belts already, a nice treat to help their name get stronger in the underground. The debut and self-titled release offered an uncomfortable listen but this time with “The Obedience to Authority”, the band has achieved something even more violent and hellish.
In general, Autokrator’s subjects revolve around oppression and the dark side of human nature, giving the chills from reading the lyrics alone, let alone getting in touch with the music itself. As the album’s title suggests, this time the group talks about torturing for information, obeying the ruler and getting into the mind of the torturer, how he justifies and enjoys his actions. Lot’s of methods of torture are referred in the eight chapters of the album and as it closes in the last track, “you will talk”.
As punishing as the concept of “The Obedience to Authority” is, the music is up at the same spot and doesn’t leave much room for the listener to breathe while it unfolds. The guitar riffs combined with the drum programming create a thick, suffocating atmosphere that devastates in it’s path, bringing some of the most unfriendly death metal lines you will listen to this year. There are some elements of industrial/dark ambient in the interludes and instrumental parts, which consist of nightmarish, post-apocalyptic sounds as if you were meant to suffer along with the torturer’s victim.
While there are sparse drone moments in the album as well, the second most powerful characteristic that gives it another positive credit is the work on the vocals. These deep, throaty growls fit perfect to the wall of the instrumentation and add even more to the chaos and mayhem going on. It’s also relatively easy to follow the powerful lyrics while he sings, provoking nothing but unnerving feelings, that’s how effective the vocals are. “The Obedience to Authority” is dressed in totalitarian black, with a figure on the cover as dark as the duo behind the band.
Autokrator have evolved since their debut and their new album is a notable effort with a recognizable sound, assaulting the ears with inhuman samples and melodies. It’s not an average death metal record and you have not listened to similar stuff before, beware and know that it goes very close to the realistic, true essence of the word “evil”. At first, it might seem like it’s monotonous but through a closer listen, you will see the meticulous structure and solid flow it has in it’s thirty six minutes of duration.
4/6
