Band:	Chthonian
Album:	Of Beatings And The Silence In Between
Style:	Blackened death metal
Release date:	March 28, 2007
A review by:	Deadsoulman

01. Ill
02. Thirteen
03. Sanguine Sadism
04. Larvae, Nymph, Decay
05. Weep Human, Weep
06. That'll Teach You
07. Syringes And Chemicals
08. Of Beatings And The Silence In Between

Chthonian is one of the earlier bands of Mathias Lillmåns, famed for being the new vocalist of Finnish folk band Finntroll. Well, aside from dancing with trolls in the forest, this guy also has his brutal band, formed in 1998. On a side note, it strikes me as a bit odd that after nine years of existence, the first recordings of the band didn't bring more than eight songs hardly clocking over 27 minutes. Anyway, those of you who, seeing Finntroll mentioned here, expect something similar from Chthonian, are in for a blasting surprise.

Of Beatings And The Silence In Between more or less introduces Lillmåns as a "real" death metal singer, as his guttural vocals do one hell of a job for the aggressive nature of this album. The pace of the album is fast, relentless, with the drummer doing an excellent job at blastbeating his way through your brain. This is mainly guitar-driven music, though, with catchy riffing upon tempo changes upon groovy breaks upon more catchy riffs. Although a tad repetitive on the long term, as the album is not very varied and the songs all more or less follow the same formula, Of Beatings And The Silence In Between is a catchy album, full of great ideas.

The basis of the music is standard death metal, of the type that grabs you by the balls (or wherever else it hurts if you don't have balls - just imagine and leave me alone, please) and doesn't let go until you scream for mercy. This is brutal, powerful, full of hatred, almost frighteningly violent at times. The band wrapped things up into a black metal atmosphere, with all the gloom, the dark atmospheres and the filthiness it implies. To give you a point of comparison, imagine a slightly less brutal and more accessible Akercocke. You got the concept?

The production is brutal and chaotic, but the music never becomes messy, so I guess I can say the band did a perfect job during the two days it took them to record this album by their own means. Altogether, this is a very good release, though next time I expect something a bit more versatile and, above all, a bit longer. I'm not happy with only 28 minutes when the music is that good. Fans of brutality, this is for you.


Highlights: Ill, Sanguine Sadism, Weep Human, Weep