Alastis
Revenge

Well, I would like to talk about the almost (now) unknown "Alastis".

The Alastis who are not, as I have read and heard many times, a poor copy of their compatriots, and relatives, Samael. On the contrary.

Sure, I am talking about the times when these Swiss played a genre deeply imbued with Black/Death atmospheres but also with the indispensable gothic accents that then, as time went on, became the band's peremptory trademark. Today, of course, it makes no sense to talk about it, given the proliferation of many bands offering the usual mixture, sometimes good, of course, of gothic and ferocity served on the same plate revisited many times, but what differentiated Alastis from the rest of the bands, especially Scandinavian ones that ventured into the contaminated path of melody mixed with a marked attitude towards brutality, was precisely this second factor: not losing, in this context, the "Black" touch from which they originated and indeed always keeping it in mind. In "Revenge," there is indeed plenty of ferocity, anger, resentment, piercing screams, and extreme growls.

I don't say this album is a masterpiece; I don't say it is a must-have, but it certainly deserves some listens indeed, given the talent, sometimes mocking, sometimes of desecrating origin, sometimes dark and sinister, that is unleashed here. To be clear: if you are looking for technical prowess or refined culture in the lyrics, you will not find it in this album. But if you don't mind bleak and rarefied atmospheres, although airy and well-structured, or can't detach from certain musical styles that immediately bring to mind snowy mountains, dark skies, winter nights, and moonlit sabbaths, then you won't be able to do without it; starting, just to say, from the first track "Just Hate," which is nothing more than, indeed, a very incisive and piercing refrain repeated almost throughout the track, and you will notice, among other things, keyboards always in the foreground, guitars modulated in a "strangely" Heavy manner and not scraping as in Death tradition, although able to unleash perfectly the right amount of malice, and the voice of War D., as furious as that of Lars G. Petrov, a bit raspier and lower in tone, almost echoing back to the origins of Black Metal, which, when listened to closely, knows very well how to fascinate and enchant in its own decay drowned in the acid of hatred.

The album, starting well with, indeed "Just Hate", continues with "Burnt Alive", "Eternal Cycle", and "Sacrifice" which, in the opinion of the one writing closes a part of the work done; that, just to be clear, of the angry outburst, suffocated but not yet too full of dismay. And the modulations of power and brutality are heard in all these four songs, especially in the same "Sacrifice", so brutal, eclectic, and versatile that it can also impress and envelop without much ado. But every track mentioned so far has its own particular peculiarity, its own personal "appeal" that becomes, gradually, more and more changeable and martial, managing to implode on itself before a new part begins.

"Ecstasy", "Nemesis", "Like a Dream", are the gothic continuation of what has been expressed so far. The tempos slow down and become more measured, the guitars often and willingly give way to keyboard and synth notes, the fierce "orc-like" voice becomes sharper, sibylline, and epic, and the apex is reached with the beautiful, heartfelt, and tragic "Like a Dream", where, around a dark arpeggio, unhealthy and cryptic melodic lines deviate which then return to the starting point. Nothing special, but surely effective and of certain "sensation".

Finally, we arrive at the part, let's call it more "Black" of the cd, which starts with "Bring Down", continues with "Agony", and ends with "Revenge", even though the epic partitions of the first of the triptych clash with the Thrash attack and subsequently highly fierce of the second and with the almost "Industrial" atmospheres of the third which then however takes many tangents towards fascinating and hostile shores, and which is the true soul and final point of a truly well-conceived work, thought and well done, and to which I, if I didn't know Alastis, would surely give more than just a few listens.

Your judgment.