YALDABAOTH is an American Technical Death/Black Metal project from Lycaean Triune, coming from Anchorage, Alaska. "That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate" is its first full-length, following a split with Skopt in 2017. The band mixes complex songwriting with criptic lyrics and moves between busy heaviness and atmospheric passages.

"Fecund Godhead Deconstruction" has a very Old School Black Metal feel with its lo-fi sound. It is an intense affair, obscure lyrics threading in different languages. The oppressive nature of the track can be felt on the tight riffing and overall technical playing. Although complex, it never feels overpowering or unnecessarily difficult. The demonic growls and screams fit the atmosphere perfectly.

A nice, proggy groove appear on the first couple of minutes of "Megas Archon 365". It is the longest track on the record, a multi-section, 10-minute beast. It slows down the pace around the four-minute mark and starts to pick up little by little, building tension by crescendoing. A blast beat heavy track, where Lycaean Triune gets to go crazy behind the kit. It explodes in a massively dissonant final section, very noisy, filled with some interesting studio tricks such as circling the sound around the speakers/headphones. Some very tricky playing an all accounts, filled with syncopation and some irregular patterns.

Sinister synths and demonic "whispering" throws the listened into "Gomorrahan Grave of the Sodomite". Warm basslines and textured clean guitars lend the track an almost Alternative Rock sound for its first section of this lengthy composition. Syncopated, Jazz-tingled drumming eases the transition towards a harsher sound. It has a fun yet mysterious middle section, with tribal drumming and oriental-esque guitar leads. Everything crashes into dissonance towards the end.

"To Neither Rot nor Decay" goes next, making the most of a dense synthesised chorus drenched in distortion. Things go Post-Metal when it comes to structure, highlighted by the slow build of the guitar and an overall nostalgic yet slightly menacing feel. Lycaean Triune lays down some exquisite clean guitar playing here. Drums provide as much texture as they do rhythm. The whole thing flows perfectly into the next track, the title track. "That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate" builds it main riff upon the previous track main riff, deconstructing it in a clever, ingenious way. Another proggy song with shifting time signatures, that remains catchy. It functions as a perfect mood settler before the final track.

Closer "Mock Divine Fury" wastes no time by going full heavy at the very beginning. There is lots of shredding here, some complex riffing and leads. Mathy, spidery guitar work, syncopated bass runs and tech-y drumming make it an intricate and dense finale. It feels a bit more monotone that the previous long songs -it borders the nine-minute mark after all-, although it shifts to a groovy, clean section almost six minutes in. The last third of the track is quite jazzy and rhythmic. It is without a doubt the absolute climax of the record. The fade-out ending fits nicely, making the track sound as if it never truly ends. Certainly, the repetition here pays off, in an outstanding climax after minutes of tension building.

YALDABAOTH delivers a solid record with "That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate", filled with intricate songwriting and musicianship. The production could have been a little less noisy, but it feels adequate and mostly work with the whole aesthetic of the record. Balancing lengthy tracks with relatively shorter songs (still between five and six minutes long) works perfectly, so the album never feels overwhelming or repetitive.