SEREMENT is a Greek blackened death metal band that formed in 2022; “Abhorrent Invocations” is their full-length debut album but they released an EP in 2022. I love Greek metal. Obviously the scene has been strong for decades but it just keeps going and going, spitting out bands left and right. New to the scene is SEREMENT and they are adding to the country’s pantheon of extreme metal. However, three of the four members (Vaggelis, Monolis, and Andreas) are from the death metal band BLESSED BY PERVERSION. Their drummer, Vagelis Vasilopoulos, is known from CHAOS HERESY and SICKENING HORROR.

“Abhorrent Invocation,” is an amazingly well written album. It’s fast and brutal, leaning into a STYLE of death metal that is underground as hell but not afraid to mix it up with groove and even melody here and there. The blackened aspect of their sound adds just enough rough grime to their sound, Providing a menacing edge to their brutality. It's probably not the idea that extreme metal bands are going for but every song on the album has a hook that grabbed me; the album is a memorable collection of songs. The production and mix is exactly what I want for the style as well. It isn't clean by any means but it has enough clarity that nothing is hidden behind a muffled wall of noise either. The bass in particular stands out very well. The death vocals are deep and gravely but with intelligible inflection, just the way I like it.

The album opens with “Stench of Torment” and its frenzied bass. The song is in crazy mode about .2 seconds in, all out furry. But there is still a focus on actual riffs and groove, this isn’t just extremity for the sake of it. The drumming is fantastic—fast and razor sharp with enough heft to provide a foundation. Around the halfway mark, the song pulls back a little on the tempo, the breathing room allowing the song to really dig its hooks in. The drop around the 2:30 mark is a mid paced grind that had my head nearly falling off my shoulders. “Frozen Dawn of Death,” is a towering song. In the beginning buzzing riffs and a sea of double bass fill up the atmosphere. Melodic tinges pepper the rhythm here and there before the halfway mark, where the music takes on a more thrashy approach with ultra tight rhythmic prowess.

“Forging The Darkness,” dials up the black elements, creating an urgent song with a ton of energy at its disposable. It’s the little details that matter like the cymbal work over the rumbling rifs around the 51 second mark or the unrelenting waves of riffs just after the 2:05 mark. At the 2:53 mark, the song fades off briefly and then releases truly massive riffs. “No Reflection For His Shadow,” is a battering ram and already had my brain pummeled by the the time a few seconds passed. The riffs are dizzying and profane with a very brief portion of melody thrown in before the drop and the band goes for broke as it approaches the halfway mark. The later half is layered vocals and unrelenting riffs on top of bass and drums that just won’t stop. This is one of my favorite songs on the album, just fantastic from begging to end.

The final song is “Κατάβαση Ψυχών,” is an instrumental that is surprisingly atmospheric but done in the right way as to fit in with the other songs and end the album on a high note. All in all, SEREMENT is another exemplary Greek band and “Abhorrent Invocations” is another top notch Greek album. This is a quality release that raises the bar for the genre as we approach the second half of the year.