Triumvir Foul s/t LP Review

Triumvir Foul release their debut self-titled full-length album, and it’s a slight change in direction from the Swedeath-sounding An Oath of Blood and Fire demo. Their second release channels a bit of ancient death metal to their style, and on this record Triumvir Foul play it fitting tribute with filthy, gritty, no-holds barred brutality from first note to last.

Triumvir Foul is made up of the same duo that comprises black metal stalwarts Ash Borer. On Triumvir Foul, they explore death metal, refraining from playing two disparate styles as their first incarnation, in order to play music closer to each band’s purpose of being.

Armed with a new strategem, a new band member, and less importantly, a new logo, Triumvir Foul don’t mix the two styles into a paradigm of blackened death metal parody, as the sub-genre has seen a great deal of popularity as of late. Instead, they leave Ash Borer comparisons to those who can’t tell one style from another, being clear that they seek to exorcise their death metal leanings as Triumvir Foul, and for that matter, keep the vaunted black metal discography of Ash Borer’s free from such experimentation.

On Triumvir Foul’s demo, An Oath of Blood and Fire, the duo plays a more stripped-down style. With the guitar closely sounding like that of Swedish buzzsaw tradition, Triumvir Foul’s demo sounded simpler by comparison. On their LP, they blast more often, shredding, double-kick drumming, and playing some slight homage to blackened death metal on nine tracks of pristine darkness. The guitars feedback and wail with greater tendency, the production rendering the dense wall of sound some harrowing quality, some great inclination to drive the side-project greater relevancy in the death metal scene today.

Label: BLOOD HARVEST

Indeed, Triumvir Foul’s demo lacked that sense of urgency, that maniacal drive to produce albums of such quality as Ash Borer is known by. On their self-titled LP, the band mixes it perfectly for vinyl format. The production qualities used for the instruments lend them a bit of ash and dust, gritty, noisy and obscure like death metal albums of the early nineties.

The songs don’t last too long. The first track, “Labyrinthine – The Blood Serpent Unwinds,” closes at nearly eight minutes in length and does a splendid job of transitioning from the intro to the actual sermon. It establishes the smoky, dusty atmosphere of music long-gone, exhumed at the risk of inducing the Armageddon. Death metal like this might be easier to come by these days, what with ancient death metal having seen a resurgence, but death metal this good isn’t quite as proliferate as many may think. It is of special note to audiences around the world who might have balked at An Oath of Blood and Fire that Triumvir Foul have released something far more menacing, something better than what you or I could have anticipated based on popular opinion surrounding their debut. Less hyped and back with a vengeance, Triumvir Foul knock on the doors of death metal elitism here.

Peep their Demo:

Most of the songs last about four minutes or less, and although the song arrangements have seen a touch of complexity, a great disparity between this and that of their demo won’t be too greatly felt. It is in style and execution that much can be said about what Triumvir Foul has replaced or improved immensely from their demo. Their follow-up album thereby receives a good commendation from me. What Triumvir Foul started with has quickly reached closer to the pinnacle of death metal perfection, an album that makes strides greater than first perception will allow, so yes, listen to this a few more times before thinking that Triumvir Foul seek to give audiences the run-around.