Album Review: Speticflesh - Codex Omega

Band:  Septicflesh
Album:  Codex Omega
Release Date:  September 1st, 2017
Genre:  Symphonic Death Metal
Rating:  9/10

I was rather excited to see that Septicflesh had finally dropped a new album.  I've been waiting for this since the "good but not great" release that was Titan back in 2014.

I've gotta say, I'm incredibly happy with where they went musically in this album compared to Titan.  The music is a lot riff heavier, but it doesn't sacrifice any of the edge that the orchestra gave it either.  Right out the gate we start with Dante's Inferno and it's very very SF traditional orchestra work.  However, this is also a song that allows a very important part of the band to shine.  The new drummer.

I'm Not trying to blow smoke either, so I went and re-listened to chunks of Titan and The Great Mass (one of my all time favorite albums) to check drum differences.  Good lord it's night and day.  Not only is this drummer just...  better, he's also mixed better than the last one.

That's honestly a lot of my takeaway from this release, they are much better at mixing tracks than they used to be.  The orchestra isn't as overpowering and the drums are rather present.  My only issue with them honestly is the vocalist doesn't sound as demonic as he used to.  He still does at times, but for the most part he seems to have changed the way he screams and it's not as horrific.

One of the things I love about these guys is the fact that they are just dark.  Dark music is something I've fallen in love with over the last few years and Septicflesh has delivered on such great, emotion filled content for me in that regard that as long as their new music doesn't sound anything like Sumerian Demons or Ophidian Wheel era Septicflesh I'll be happy.

That isn't to say this isn't a good release though.  Technically and musically it's a much grander piece than Titan.  Thematically it's incredibly different from The Great Mass as well, and I feel that was a good choice.  If they had tried to keep the same sound I don't think it would have worked any better than Titan had.

So I want to give you standout tracks like I generally would, but I just can't here, there's too many good ones to narrow it down fairly.  That being said, some of my favorites include Enemy Of Truth, Dark Art, Portrait Of A Headless Man, and Faceless Queen.  While the whole album is worth the about 50 minutes it takes to listen to you should at least check out those 4 and the title track.

All in all I give this release a very strong 9.  I look forward to becoming more familiar with it as the week rolls on.

Follow me on Facebook        Support me on Patreon