When I first picked up Theurgia Goetia I did not expect it to be a MCD about 17 minutes in length and on top of that containing a blackened death metal so fast and unrelenting that it feels even shorter. However Goetia (PL) compensate for the relative shortness with a bombastic and tight album with four well composed tracks that balance perfectly between speed and technicality. Sargon on drums really hammers on like there was no tomorrow and the guitars of Wrak and the now deceased Arch are grinding and visceral yet easily distinguishable in the barrage of heavy bass and growling vocals from Nashat-Tchort.
The album introduces the listener to Void I am Myself, and nowadays I wonder if Paul W.S. Anderson realized just how many bands would use a sampling of the quote Liberate Tutemet Ex Infernis from the space horror flick Event Horizon when he recorded it. The song is harsh and unrelenting in its speed and execution and the howling vocals of Nashat fits extremely well in the crafted mayhem that’s conjured by the musicians. Right at the start of the album the sheer competence of the band shines brightly and with 50.000 Breaths the album kicks into a new gear with parts that are both slower and more accentuated before returning to the reckless hyper drive again. Hawk-Headed God Enthroned starts with a mystic chant that quickly blends into blasting drums and grinding guitars. It is a harsh and tight song that sticks to your mind like glue and leaves a lasting impression long after the last riffs fade to black. The album concludes with Paths of Seth and delivers more of the blasting barrage of drumming to the violent screams of Nashat.
Being a shorter album it is quite hard to get a more intricate connection to Goetia. While being competent musicians and delivering some of the faster tracks I have heard for some time the album quickly become somewhat monotonous and the similarities in structures between the various songs become quite obvious after a few listens. However it remains a harsh and unrelenting ritual of sound that somehow grows on you despite its few weaknesses. In the end I wonder what the next step in Goetias evolution will be. The hybridization of black and death metal is not the most experimental of steps but Goetia handles the combination well and there is a certain beauty embedded in the fast, ritual carnage of songs such as 50.000 Breaths. In the end I give Theurgia Goetia a recommendation to fans of black metal spliced with elements of death. It is a rather short but competent mcd that shows a lot of promise for the future of Goetia.
Rate: 3.5/5
Written by: Skarsnik
Label: Old Temple (PL) / Format: CD / Cat. # OLD 49
Tracklisting:
01. Void I Am Myself
02. 50.000 Breaths
03. Hawk-Headed God Enthroned
04. Paths of Seth (2nd Seal)
