Band:	Thecodontion
Album:	Supercontinent
Style:	Black metal, Death metal
Release date:	June 26, 2020
A review by:	RaduP

01. Gyrosia
02. Vaalbara
03. Ur [feat. Skaðvaldur]
04. Kenorland
05. Lerova
06. Nuna
07. Rodinia
08. Tethys
09. Laurasia-Gondwana [feat. J.G.P.]
10. Pangaea [feat. R.C.]
11. Panthalassa

You don't need any guitars to make some bass-driven prehistoric war metal.

Gimmicks are really a tough thing, they may get you some attention, but if they're all you got, you won't enjoy that attention for a long time. Centering your band around a theme and also having some unusual instrumental compositions is certainly something intriguing, especially if it's not something you really get to experience every day. Italy's Thecodontion are named after a weirdly specific and apparently obsolete taxonomy group, and they make a weird kind of war metal that only has vocals, drums and bass, and they sing about prehistoric themes, so there is a lot to unpack, and definitely a lot that catches the eye. And now that they made this sound, they're not gonna work on charm alone the next time around. But things don't look that bleak.

For one, though this is their debut, this isn't really their first release. First coming up with the Thecodontia demo and the Jurassic EP, they birthed this sound that I've been describing, this spur of chaotic war metal that had some novelty but nothing that wouldn't wear off after a while. Though who is gonna complain about some more bassy war metal on a few short releases. Making a full length out of this sound is a bit more challenging. So obviously some things had to change to make that sound feasible for 44 minutes. Thankfully, they didn't add guitars (other than a few guest spots by Bedsore's Jacopo), nor did they make their themes any more modern. However I'm not sure I could still call their sound war metal. War metal doesn't sound grand. And how fitting for prehistoric music to evolve.

I'm not sure I would call Supercontinent a grand album, though having a album about all the supercontinents and superoceans of our planet and how they morphed and moved must have a bit of grandiosity. We are talking about stuff that is seemingly older than on on par with what The Ocean usually sing about, if I have my natural histories correct. Naturally that for this there was a bit of a need of some post-metal like atmospheres sprinkled on top of the explosive aggression. There are bits and pieces of the war metal sound, but much more of it is rather slow and atmospheric, with the two basses playing distinct roles with distinct sounds, one of them being a lot slappier and pretty funky, with the other one modulated to sound more like a guitar, giving place to some parts that do sound like guitar solos. This contrast between the two basses works wonders to make the whole album sound dynamic and engaging.

You definitely need a lot of work to make the slow movements of the tectonic plates to sound dynamic and engaging, and most of all: flashy. Prehistory probably wouldn't be the first thing on my mind if I heard this album without its context, but now that this image has been imprinted in my mind, Thecodontion do a pretty well job of sonically building it. And taking a look through the lyric sheet, it's clear that they've done their fair share of research. The interplay between the two basses, and between the slower more atmospheric sections (often found in the oceanic interludes) and the warlike punchier ones do make Supercontinent something that transcends its gimmick and works much more besides the novelty. Slowing down the pace allowed them to focus both on their songwriting and their atmosphere building, and quite rarely for me, they made me go through the lyric sheet.

No guitars! Only death!