Apocryfal - Aberration of Mind

Apocryfal

Aberration of Mind

by Erika Kuenstler at 09 March 2015, 10:01 AM

Sometimes you come across a band or an album that just positively oozes potential, and you wonder to yourself how it is that you’ve never managed to hear of them before. Just such a band is the Finnish Death Metal outfit APOCRYFAL, who released their EP “Aberration of Mind” a year and a half ago. How I’ve managed to miss such a promising band is completely beyond me: just a few listens of this EP are destined to leave you feeling like a junkie with a craving for more.

Clocking in at just under a third of an hour, “Aberration of Mind” starts with “Intro (A Grievance)” which gives a slowly eases the listener in, preparing them for the explosive heavy oppressiveness that marks “Contra”. This is where we start to get an inkling of the true potential possessed by APOCRYFAL: “Contra” is frantic, dark, brutal, and oh so powerful. This quality is relentlessly kept up in “Mother of All”; a real fist-pumper that completely decimates with its mesmerizing guitar sections, obliterating percussions, and devastating vocals. The title track “Aberration of Mind” sees a meld between militant sections and more galloping riffage, resulting in a track of absolute skull crushing supremacy that shatters remorselessly, and it is all too soon that we find ourselves listening to the final track, “A Theist”. This song features a different facet of APOCRYFAL, with a darker undertow that effortlessly matches the complexity of the other tracks, leaving you with a resounding ending to the EP. As far as I can tell, the only downside of “Aberration of Mind” is that it leaves you with an unquenchable thirst for more.

You know that the production is going to be masterfully done when Dan Swanö (who has also done work for bands like BLOODBATH and EDGE OF SANITY) is behind it, and indeed, “Aberration of mind” has been impeccably produced, with the sound being the perfect balance between crystal clear and yet unrepentantly brutal. Everything from the song-writing to the musicianship is also absolutely flawless. Overall, considering that “Aberration of Mind” is a mere debut EP, it’s an astounding mouth-watering morsel that makes you eagerly anticipate more. It is exceptionally rare for me to award an album full points, but APOCRYFAL have managed to completely blow me away. This is definitely a band I will be keeping sharp ear out for.