Review of the Album Called Sumerian Daemons by Greek Atmospheric Death Metal Band Septicflesh

Sumerian Daemons is the 2003 studio album by Greek atmospheric death metal band Septicflesh and this is also the last album that they released under their former name of Septic Flesh. While none of the albums that I've heard from these Greek guys are elite enough to match certain death metal bands, the one thing that most of us can appreciate is the fact that these guys have been able to fuse lots of different musical parts or pieces in their albums especially in 1999's Revolution DNA album and they are from a country in Europe that is passed over for the larger, more prominent heavy metal nations such as the United Kingdom, Germany, or even Italy. The one musical attribute that can describe the band Septicflesh is one of musical consistency.

Sumerian Daemons is this Greek band's 5^th studio album and it has spoken parts that we would hear from bands such as Fear Factory. The album's title (at least a part of it has an interesting spelling). However, I would not address this album's music as being evil or spooky but heavy, symphonic death metal with the usual rough vocals combined with acoustic parts and choir singing parts that have this chanting style in a sense.

Septicflesh has at least been consistent in their musical approach even when they include choir style vocals in their songs. If you want to hear death metal with very complex and thought provoking lyrics, then Septicflesh will appeal to you. If on the other hand you are looking for standard death metal music or the melodic death metal type then Septicflesh's music is not for you.

It is a real shame that Greece isn't yet more well-known for the metal genre and they should be. Though I do remember that bands such as Iced Earth went to Athens in 1999 and toured over there but for a large portion of bands they seem to not tour over there as much.

“When All Is None” is an example of the growing evolution of the band Septicflesh as it is a mishmash of Lacuna Coil meets Rotting Christ as the guitar riffs show this. “Red Code Cult” has this sort of repeated choir style singing and then from what seems like out of nowhere, the band surprises you with thundering beats as the vocal growl starts this song off. “Magic Loves Infinity” has a sort of Paradise Lost influence to it along with some interesting acoustic driven riff that takes over along with the vocals. Stylistically this song resembles what we would hear on the album One Second. Even though it was mentioned that Revolution DNA may be this band's best album, hearing Sumerian Daemons gives me second thoughts because these guys seem to be getting better with each album which is a huge advantage for any band.

Behold...the Land of Promise is a chanting and not howling kind of song that has a repeating choir part in it. I know that this is not the kind of start most people would want to hear from this band and they would rather get into the death metal vocals but that will come as well. Unbeliever is a song that lyrically doubts the existence of a maker that is responsible for all life forms. Religion is one of the most controversial issues of our time and has the potential to push people to one side or another but everyone has the right to their beliefs. This song feels like something we would have heard from Sweden's Hypocrisy way back in 1994. Virtues of the Beast is a song that contains backing vocals that are as part of a choir and this speaks to the consistency of Septicflesh though at this time they were known by the name of Septic Flesh.

Septicflesh is a band whose music isn't for everyone

Given the somewhat dark nature if this band's music if you are already upset or anxious you may find it hard to sit through an entire album of one of the heaviest and darkest bands in the Greek metal scene. As was previously mentioned, these guys don't really sound evil but it is of a dark nature and the riffs just pummel your senses.

However by the time we get to the song Sumerian Daemon, the pace softens considerably and you are probably thinking what a relief this is and for some us this may be true after hearing so many heavy songs that constantly flood our listening environment with incessant growls but even this song gets suddenly heavy. Mechanical Babylon is a song that looks at the possibility that sometimes machines will fail and humans will at times take matters into their own hands and commit crimes that cause harm to others. On the second full listen through this album it seems to me that Sumerian Daemons is not quite as good as Revolution DNA but it is still good for an atmospheric death metal album and the musical ideas are well thought out. The music on this album isn't as good as early Theatre of Tragedy but you have to like the way that these guys try and have a mishmash of creative ideas in each album.