APEP – Before Whom Evil Trembles

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6.5

• Band:
  APEP
• Duration: 00:37:53
• Available from: 09/13/2024
• Label:

• War Anthem Records

Death metal set in ancient Egypt, where have we heard this before? While we try to remember if anyone else has already compared, before the Germans Apep, the metal of death and the muddy waters of the Nilewe'll try not to dwell too much on more or less obvious references to other overseas bands, and let's try to focus on the music itself.
If it is true that originality is not the master in the Apep house, it must be said that these four Saxons, active since 2016 and now at their second album, try to balance the matter with a certain flair and a notable executive power: the impact is in fact notable, and the riffs are well constructed, enough to evoke the deeds of vengeful Egyptian gods and human sacrifices, while all around the slime suffocates everything. The guitars are certainly the most functional aspect of the album, which despite an apparent simplicity requires a couple of listens to be truly appreciated, precisely because of the stratification of the six strings; these are the protagonists of several melodic runs that stand out well on otherwise monolithic passages: to name two that stand out, “Tombs Of Eternity”, the piece that strikes us the most, an example of how the guitars elevate a fairly 'normal' rhythmic structure, or the fluid “Swallowed By Silent Sands”, the closing track of the album, with ten minutes that show a band that is nevertheless quite aware of what it is doing.
And it is the good writing ability of the guitarists, precisely, that stands out and makes the writing of the album enjoyable, for the rest quite straight; the rhythm section does nothing more than a good job of support, and even the voice is quite monochromatic but, nevertheless, the elements made available by the guitar constructions (the real strong point, ultimately, of the album, as we were saying), make sure that the sum is not bad, together with a very lively and strong production, capable in fact of exalting the most muscular aspect of this “Before Whom Evil Trembles”.
In short, an album that despite the lack of any real originality (beyond the theme) manages to be listened to thanks to a well-marked conviction, but in itself an average work.