Esoctrilihum – Dy’th Requiem for the Serpent Telepath (Review)

This is the sixth album from French solo black metal act Esoctrilihum.

Dy’th Requiem for the Serpent Telepath offers up an individual take on extreme metal. It mixes a textured interpretation of black metal with elements of death and doom metal, to produce music that’s majestic, symphonic, eccentric, and steeped in rich atmosphere. It does this over a colossal 79 minutes, so prepare yourself for the long haul.

This is not an album to have a casual acquaintance with; Dy’th Requiem for the Serpent Telepath demands your time and attention, and if this sort of creative blackened art speaks to you, then you’re highly likely to want to give it.

The artist behind Esoctrilihum has created a multifaceted beast of an album. He clearly has no issues with creativity, and despite its significant length, Dy’th Requiem for the Serpent Telepath manages to keep your attention throughout.

The album is divided into four sections of three songs apiece, with the artist using this format to tell a tale as the music develops across the running time. As the music unfolds a rich tapestry of extreme metal sounds is revealed. This is a vibrant soundscape that’s wreathed in a variety of moods and atmospheres, and each part of the album does a good job of incorporating emotion into itself, further drawing the listener into the journey that is this esoteric and uncommon collection of tracks. The music’s variety of ingredients are present throughout, but the album does seem to get more brutal as it progresses.

This is a very melodic work, but not in the typical way that a statement like that is meant; this is not an album of colourful guitar leads or solos, for example, at least not on the whole. Rather, these songs use melody as both a base to build from, and as something to drape over themselves like a cloak of thick luxurious atmosphere.

The core of the music here is quite diverse, as mentioned, but this is capably expanded with a range of other instruments and sounds, such as synths, violin, and piano. This is all blended together to produce an atmospheric, psychedelic, blackened adventure that feels all-encompassing in its worldbuilding abilities.

Dy’th Requiem for the Serpent Telepath is a superlative work of individuality and obscure flair. If you’re someone who tends to reach for the atypical, then reach for this.

Very highly recommended.