To challenge yourself as a creator of any sort of musical material is to set yourself down a path that has no clear ending for it varies from one artist to the next with one being given the limelight with many others being placed in the shadows of obscurity. When Esoctrilihum first set out with its first album five years ago, I think it’s safe to say that no one could’ve expected we’d be here today. Last year’s “Eternity of Shaog” was rightfully one of the most hailed releases of its kind that we saw come out of the clusterfuck that was 2020, and those of us who had been with Esoctrilihum for years now have been salivating to see what would follow-up such a masterwork. With some cues in different directions but still the same drive and potency at every turn, it is now that we yet again dissect a release from one of the most otherworldly bands to reach this level.
As one of my most anticipated releases for year, for probably the third year in a row (I’m losing count), I really had to give the whole of “Dy’th Requiem For The Serpent Telepath” the time to breathe on its own and allow its distinctions to really get their hold on me so that way it doesn’t all just feel like the same product from last year. And in every way, I cannot stress enough how well done the execution throughout the whole of this album is when it comes to how Esoctrilihum is able to stretch its sound that it has become known for over the years into a new demented form that opens our eyes to a new level of what this band is capable of, as if we didn’t know before. It’s this time around that the band comes armed with a style that takes some key elements from the world of doom to bring us slower moments that are peppered throughout the whole of “Dy’th Requiem” which are all brought to life spectacularly as the transitions between it and the black/death that Esoctrilihum has become synonymous with forming a particularly vicious combination that cannot be understated when it comes to the unmitigated aural assault that is happening at all times in these twelve tracks of madness. Blend that together with the recurring use of mild psychedelia at key points throughout “Dy’th Requiem” that all have different flavors compared to when Esoctrilihum has used them in past efforts, leading to a decidedly different all-around flavor that truly does put the listener in a different mindset compared to what’s dealt out in “Inüma”. Coalescing it all into a cohesive work with everything playing off one another is a titanic task all on its own, but that’s just one of the things that has made Esoctrilihum one of the greatest names to know throughout the underground and it is undoubtedly with “Dy’th Requiem For The Serpent Telepath” that this band’s legacy just gets even more ungodly glorious!
One of the biggest challenges with doing reviews for this band year after year would normally be to find new things to talk about without repeating myself over and over again as I would with almost any other band out there. But it’s in every possible way that Esoctrilihum is not like any other band out there from the quality, power, and off-worldly energies that are constantly pouring forth from every creation that the band makes with that being very much the case yet again with this record. There is absolutely a thread of constance throughout every Esoctrilihum creation that fans can keeping coming back to and experience some form of familiarity, but it’s the moment that you look away from that thread that you see Esoctrilihum constantly challenging itself to create something new out of both a desire to craft something new and provide a new voice for the internal chaos that is surely brewing within the artist, and it’s all of that which makes reviewing each and every Esoctrilihum album a treat for someone like me. Such that it’s with “Dy’th Requiem For The Serpent Telepath” that I yet again finding myself saying that this band has produced what’s likely one of the best albums of the year with it being better than the last in plenty of areas, and I feel wholly confident in such a statement without question.
“Dy’th Requiem For The Serpent Telepath” releases on May 21st via I, Voidhanger Records!
LISTEN to an advanced track from “Dy’th Requiem For The Serpent Telepath” on Bandcamp here.
LIKE Esoctrilihum on Facebook here.
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