This is the second album from international black metal band Amalekim.
Avodah Zarah offers up 46 minutes of melodic black metal for listeners to enjoy, and enjoy we do. Amalekim’s music is gripping stuff.
Avodah Zarah is an album of melancholic depths and furious highs, inexorably linked thorough potent songwriting and devilish performances. It’s vital and energetic, scything through the airwaves with undisguised zeal. There’s a dramatic quality here that I like, and the vocals are absolutely vicious, (and more varied than you usually find in your average black metal act).
The well-written music on Avodah Zarah incorporates a few different influences into itself over the album’s duration. There are the obvious melodic black metal ones, which come from the Scandinavian scene, and these form a strong foundation onto which Amalekim have built with contemporary skill and ability. They have done this with a degree of technicality that enriches the songs with intricate precision. Atmospheric aspects are incorporated well, allowing for an immersion that’s compelling. Along with this there are occasional touches of dissonance that add a darker, otherworldly edge to proceedings. Finally we have a near-omnipresent raw aggressive nastiness that’s influenced by the Polish school of black/death hostility.
The songs are frequently fast, intricate, atmospheric, and intense. It’s a combination of sounds that are often aimed at, but not always executed that strongly. There are no such issues for Amalekim though, as their music has the requisite levels of harsh rawness, melodic hooks, and mood-focused elements that are combined into good songs.
Amalekim have unleashed a strong, enjoyable album. Avodah Zarah is accomplished and emotive. If you’re a fan of modern black metal then make sure you check this out.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 