Haliphron – Anatomy of Darkness

In death metal’s many variations, I found that symphonic elements are quite rare. Apart from Septicflesh and Fleshgod Apocalypse, I can hardly think of any death metal band that uses symphonic elements. Orchestrations are more likely to be used in modern tech-death for some cinematic effect, but it’s hardly ever seen in the more traditional death metal sounding bands. So when I found Haliphron, it got me excited pretty quick.

Their 2nd full-length studio album, titled “Anatomy of Darkness“, was released just over a month ago and I’ve been enjoying it quite a lot. It’s not the most innovative or surprising release, but it stands out quite easily due to the symphonic elements, and it’s certainly a refreshing listen. The songs are very energetic and groovy, but also dark and emotionally charged, offering a multifaceted listening experience. On the one hand you feel like headbanging and moshing, but on the other, you get gripped by the sinister orchestral soundscape and the macabre imagery in the stories and lyrics. For example, the 2 singles they released before the album, ‘Silent Escape’ and ‘Art of the Blade’ both deal with difficult mental health topics. One tackles addictions while the other takes on self-harm. We also see some gore imagery in ‘Buried Truth’, which opens with a news report on a mass murderer, and in ‘Feasting on Flesh’, which brings cannibalism into the picture. Looking at such topics, as well as the album’s title, it seems like they wanted to gather a collection of humanity’s destructive and self-destructive tendencies and put it all together in this work. Wholesome isn’t it?

Haliphron – Silent Escape

But what about the music itself? Well, it’s death metal. There’s a strong melodic element to the guitars, particularly when it comes to the lead sections, but at the same time it’s also very raw and aggressive. Regardless of the label, it slaps. Drummer Paul Beltman laid down a fantastic barrage of grooves. Despite constant double bass sections and occasional blast beats, the music has a very infectious rhythmic sense and a lot of groove variation that keeps the listener gripped. There is some fantastic cymbal play as well as amazing transitions, playing with suspense before landing into massively satisfying grooves (‘Art of the Blade’). The guitars bite hard with every riff and sometimes open into epic chords on the chorus (‘Silent Escape’). There is a slight slam and thrash element creeping in as well from time to time (‘Epitome of Perfection’) and even some blackened tendencies on the instrumental closing track, where they surprisingly reminded me of Dimmu Borgir. The bass also gets some snappy moments in the spotlight, most notably on the tribal intro to ‘Epitome of Perfection’.

We also have plenty of lead guitars. Occasional melodies are used outside the solo sections which add more emotion and character to the songs. Then the solos themselves are shreddy and technical but also very melodic, sometimes sounding epic and furious, other times hollow and eerie. And then there’s the orchestral element. For the most part, we just have a string section backing up the band, but at certain moments it becomes more horror-ish and cinematic, with some awesome chromatic sections (‘Black Star’).

Haliphron – Art of the Blade

The vocals are very death metal. Marloes Voskuil delivers both high-pitched screams and low, dirty growls, often changing very spontaneously between the two. The use of both isolated vocal lines and layered sections adds another dimension to the sound, as does the panning from left to right (‘Black Star’), that makes you feel like you’re being surrounded. This is best noticed in headphones. There are some theatrical elements as well, like the whispers in ‘Silent Escape’ and ‘Black Star’ or spoken word in ‘Art of the Blade’ and ‘Anatomy of Darkness’. ‘Buried Truth’ and ‘Double or Nothing’ also have some eerie atmospheric backing vocals, the former sounding slightly oriental, the latter operatic. And I couldn’t tell for sure whether those are actual recorded vocals or just digital samples.

Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised by this band. It’s not exactly reinventing anything, and the writing may get slightly repetitive, but at under 40 minutes run time, I don’t feel like that’s too much of a problem. Each song has some detail that separates it from the others, so you don’t feel like you’re listening to the same thing all the way through. If you want your mind blown by something groundbreaking, there’s not much for you here, but if you just want to jam some gripping and well-executed death metal, then look no further. Haliphron has you covered.

Track List:

1. Opus Addicere (01:04)
2. Silent Escape (04:40)
3. Feasting on Flesh (04:13)
4. Black Star (04:00)
5. Buried Truth (05:04)
6. Double or Nothing (04:09)
7. Epitome of Perfection (04:19)
8. Art of the Blade (04:27)
9. Anatomy of Darkness (06:30)