Wothrosch – Odium
Release Date: 13th January 2023
Label: Hammerheart Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal, Death Metal, Sludge.
FFO: Septicflesh, Anaal Nathrakh, Fleshgod Apocalypse.
Review By: Rick Farley
Hailing from Greece, being a relatively newer band, Wothrosch is giving us a debut album that far exceeds the maturity level you’d expect from a newcomer. Odium is a nasty, hateful, suffocating piece of blackened death metal that’s beyond what takes some bands three albums to achieve. The mammoth soundscape of a band like Septicflesh clashing with the furious attack of a band like Anaal Nathrakh will give you an idea of exactly where this extreme metal’s sonic experience lays. An onerous exploration of the darkest facets of the human condition. Releasing on Hammerheart Records, this is eight songs, fifty-four minutes of a harrowing listening experience of full on suffering and anguished violence.
Discordant guitar chords, rolling drum fills and monolithic bass on album opener Child sound disturbed. Swirling creepy guitars create a sense of ambient dread, while the ungodly riffs give an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. This feels putrid and vile. Beastly howls, and tortured shrieks from vocalist Philip Dellas set the tone for the abhorrent soundscape. Huge gutturals over snarled guitars with sickening disjointed melodies in the background is a brutal start to this record. The track is heavy as hell, leaving little room for the imagination of what the album may sound like. Brutal and completely void of compassion.
Sinister high-pitched tremolo notes, piercing through your mind like cutting soft flesh on Disease. Slow paced guitar riffs and chunky bass from N.P. contrasts and conflicts with the scorching notes. The track takes a sharp black metal turn for full on jagged, icy riffing keeping the same sluggish pace on the snare while the kick pedal doubles up. This dissimilarity creates a density in feel that’s hard to shake. At the six-minute mark, there is a unique reversal in sound where the guitars twist into a slower pace, while the drums punishingly blast with a frenzied velocity. I’m not sure if this juxtaposition is on purpose, but it adds a unique element that I didn’t catch right away.
Mass starts with an eerie backwards guitar riff that initiates the melody, before erupting itself into a spine-chilling wall of symphonic guitars and intense blasting. Niklas Kvartforth (Shining, Funeral Dirge) makes his guest vocal appearance on the menacing track. Blending some grim, airy doom, cold black metal riffs from guitarist Nassos Defiant Stergiou and severely tormented, shrieky vocals. The song is a complete beast of gnawing, violent atmospheres. There’s an undeniable swarming feel to the guitars that give off an influence from Behemoth. Which I’m not complaining about.
Odium was recorded by George Emmanuel (Rotting Christ, Lucifer’s Child), full of nasty tones and clear dynamics. The album artwork is done by Seth Siro Anton (Septicflesh) and aesthetically matches the feel of the soundscape. The record has several audio clips of pained screaming, sound effects like flies buzzing, metal scraping on the floor and other befitting bits of evil that bring another level of terrifying. A criticism I have, is the songs, while good, can carry on a little too long. This also dampens the overall feel of a fairly coherent album. Shave a solid six minutes over the course of a few songs, and it would improve on listener fatigue.
Still, Odium is chock-full of fiery guitars, submersive ambience, infernal death metal riffs and utter black metal darkness. What’s not to love. Wothrosch sounds angered and ready to engulf the world with flames. Spin it if you dare.
(3.5 / 5)
