Triumvir Foul – Onslaught to Seraphim (Review)

This is US death metal band Triumvir Foul’s third album.

The third album from Triumvir Foul brings us another 35 minutes of apocalyptic death metal horror. I always enjoy witnessing what primeval new terror the band have conjured up, (see, for example, this, this, and this), and have thoroughly enjoyed watching their development since they started. On their first new album in five years, Triumvir Foul have produced a monster capable of cementing their legacy.

Onslaught to Seraphim is the shortest album so far from Triumvir Foul, and also probably the band’s most direct and aggressive work overall. The grim atmosphere of the music is still intact though, as is the band’s ability to infuse it with a horrifying amount of malevolent evil.  However, on their new material this is now frequently channelled into harsher and more brutal directions.

The songs offer hymns to malignant darkness for the listener to explore. The scathing speed, filthy riffs, and sinister melodies are steeped in blackened nightmare and vile auras, making for songs that are both punishing and terrifying.

Morbid death metal, cavernous doom, and esoteric black metal influences collude to produce an entity that’s formidable. The songs’ moods are infused with such a sense of dread and darkness that the album gives off a strong stench of wrongness and malice. A primeval assault on the senses, the music lashes out wildly with crushing intensity while solos scream and shriek their way into your brain.

The vocal performance is more impressive than ever. The singer sounds possessed, delivering a bewildering array of screams, howls, and growls, without ever sounding so unhinged as to become detrimental to the music. The vocals are impassioned and cutting. They really make an impression and enhance the rest of the music.

After a wait of five years Onslaught to Seraphim has not disappointed. Triumvir Foul have returned to us in all of their malignant glory, and Onslaught to Seraphim contains some of their strongest work yet. Apparently this is their last album. If true, this is a crying shame, but at least they have exited on a high point, leaving behind a monstrously high quality discography.

Very highly recommended.