Review by Rexorcist for Septicflesh - Sumerian Daemons (2003)

Believe it or not, during my original Septicflesh marathon, I didn't get through this.  I was more interested in the directly symphonic stuff.  And even though Iv'e been trying to cut back on metal, this is one of those times where I just got impatient with putting this off and decided that one metal album wouldn't hurt my charts much.  Plus, if I'm a Septicflesh fan, I should've already heard this.

This is true to form Septicflesh in every possible way, and may be the single MOST Septicflesh album of the catalogue.  They were always a wild act, merging various styles together in a weird whole, until they focues almost strictly on symphonic death metal.  This album is a careful mesh of the symphonic stuff, the straightforward stuff, the gothic metal of the classic era and the melodic death.  The results are generally, if I may, "mystic."  There's a careful cinematic presence in their beautifully produced music that only Septicflesh can truly provide.  Some of these songs are just legendary, like the title track, Viruses of the Beast, etc.  It almost sounds like it came out of a Therion album sometimes, and at other times it reaches FSoL levels of surreality, especially in the closer.  But none of these aspects ever get in the way of each other.

A few songs, however, lose some of the melodic prowess that this experimentation demands.  Now songs like Magic Loves Infinity are just gorgeously put together, carefully treading a fine line between atmosphere and melody.  But a song like Dark River relies mostly on the backing effects to handle the magic of the album.  That's my only complaint.  Otherwise, this is absolutely georgeous death metal, four words that probably shouldn't go together.