Heresiarch – Edifice (Review)

This is the second album from New Zealand black/death metallers Heresiarch.

Prior to Edifice my first and only encounter with Heresiarch was on their 2019 split release – Scorn Coalescence – with Serpents Athirst, Genocide Shrines, and Trepanation, so this new album seemed like a good opportunity to find out what Heresiarch are capable of with a full album.

Boasting the talents of the vocalist of Verberis, Edifice contains 41 minutes of warmongering that manifests as a black/death/war metal assault that’s harsh and bestial. There are even feral deathgrind elements. Prepare yourself, because this is not for the faint of heart.

Edifice is like a brutal battering ram straight to the head, over and over again. This is is punishing, unforgiving stuff. It’s ultrabrutal, and takes the most ruthlessly murderous parts of black and death metal, forging them into a killing point that’s lethal. Heresiarch attack with militaristic precision, and destroy everything around them with the sort of unrestrained violence that’s devastating.

As remorseless and merciless as this unmistakably is, Edifice is no mere mindless killing machine. This is a finely wrought, intricate device that may be brutally harsh in its effect, but under the hood has many working parts that are well-oiled and well-engineered. Amidst the carnage of its main battery lurk atmospheric horrors and despairing darkness, adding layers of nightmare to Heresiarch’s impact.

Edifice is the sort of album that’s destructively moreish. The levels of abrasive brutality are infectious, and, glutton for punishment that you are, you just want to listen to it over again once it has completed its campaigning. You now you do. The songwriting is strong enough to withstand scrutiny, especially as it offers melodic and atmospheric enrichments at key points to keep up morale as the music tries its best to kill and maim you.

Elevating themselves above the generic war metal hordes, Heresiarch have impressed. Don’t miss out on this.