From Bandcamp, “M-Theory Audio is excited to release the debut full length album from the San Diego black metal aggregation MYTHRAEUM, featuring a crushing and technical rhythm section, folky melodies, shreddy guitar wizardry, and gut-wrenching vocals. An alchemical process manifested through primal means, MYTHRAEUM is an expression of the rage, misery, and longing that existence provokes.” The album has ten songs. A short introduction of mostly Cello and other symphonic elements in “Dawn of Reckoning” leads to “Crown and Sepsis,” which enters like an oversized asteroid ending all life on the earth. I get some DIMMU BORGIR vibes here as well.

“Harbinger’s Chant” is slower, but still very thick and overgrown with a weighted guitar sound, and the lads appear quite deft at their instruments. The vocals are horrid, tortured and angry screams, and could bring a corpse back to life. “The Hunter’s Dream” uses some light melodic guitars within the dense Black Metal elements to offer another side of the genre. When it gets going, it is like a gasoline fire in that it spreads faster than you can imagine or control. “Halls of Mythras” is a short segue song to the second half of the album, and the music is quite charming. “Terrestrial Despair” seems to grow in length and height while it passes you by, eventually becoming a massive beast that can no longer be controlled.

“Skies Torn Asunder” has some Classical elements that are interwoven into the music, and each note is carefully placed. The average Black Metal fan can miss some of these nuances if they are not listening closely enough. “Through the Nether” has building block upon building block of thickness, culminating in a stew that features some backing clean female vocals along with the male. “Beyond the Void” closes the album. The structure is so dense that you could not break into it if you tried, but yet, it breathes at times as well. Those lead melodies are like a bright spot on an album that is as black as the depths of the ocean. Overall, what strikes me most about the album is the careful detail the band went into with the songwriting. It is as aggressive as a cornered snake without a meal in years, but you can tell they are so much more.