(written by Islander)
Following up on their debut album Sumerian Promises, the German/Basque trio Sijjin are storming back this year with a new album named Helljjin Combat that Sepulchral Voice has marketed for release on April 25th. It is described (and accurately so) as an amalgamation of “the most antediluvian variety of death metal” and “a derivative of evil thrash with utmost evil intent,” conjuring “its own life of Satanic imagery, diabolical debauchery, and biblical fatalism.”
The album was recorded live, with a cutting sound that brings to mind ’80s analog-produced records, which is part of what links the songcraft on the new album to such hellish names as Infernäl Mäjesty, Nasty Savage, Possessed, and very early Slayer or Megadeth.
What you’ll also discover on the new album are songs that are not only diabolical in mood but also diabolical in their arrangements, with constant and technically impressive twists and turns that are a big part of why the album is going to keep listeners pumped up and right on the edge of their seats (or toes). You’ll understand that for yourselves when you hear the song “Dakhma Curse” that we’re premiering today.
The title of the album promises hellish combat, and hellish musical combat is what ensues in “Dakhma Curse“. As massed voices yell and the rhythm section methodically slugs and pounds, tremolo’d chords menacingly whir, generating sensations cold and cruel. And then, after a vivid, thrash-fueled guitar bridge, the band begin to charge.
Driven by a tandem of galloping punk-ish grooves and blasting bursts, the riffing slashes and throbs, blazes and blares, fronted by bestially savage and utterly malignant growls. It’s a fiery and exultant experience, and a head-hooking one too. But the changes keep coming.
The riffing feverishly swirls and spasms, lustfully pulsates and gleefully darts about, matched by equally lively bass and drum progressions, and capped by a guitar solo whose swirling and spiraling tones are electrifying. And then the band pull together almost all of their preceding motifs for a grand finale of infernal glory.
The music is undeniably vicious but there is also something fiercely jubilant about this death/thrashing romp, an infectious kind of free-wheeling exuberance that makes it very easy to listen again and again. (Predictably, it will also be high-grade mosh fuel when performed live.)
Sepulchral Voice will release Helljjin Combat on CD, vinyl LP, and digital formats, and pre-orders are open now. Below the links we also urge you to take in a previously released album track named “Five Blades“.
PRE-ORDER: 12″LP/CD/MC/MERCH
https://www.hrrecords.de/SEPULCHRAL-VOICE_1
PRE-ORDER: DIGITAL
https://sijjin.bandcamp.com/album/helljjin-combat
MORE INFO:
https://www.instagram.com/sijjin_official/
https://www.facebook.com/p/Sijjin-100063482105195/
https://www.sepulchralvoice.de
https://www.facebook.com/SepulchralVoiceRecords