On their previous (split) release (together with Inococlasm) “The Ultimate Crescendo Of Hell” Panchrysia surprised me with a grooving black metal that reminded me a lot a Satyricon, but they were among the best to do so. And now their new album “Deathcult Salvation” has been released: on a Norwegian quality label Dark Essence (so far I haven’t heard any bad release from that label!), so that creates some expectations. Well, before going further into the new album I can tell you that the expectations have been met!

Panchrysia has succeeded in bringing the music to a higher level, without betraying their style of fast black metal with tight breaks. Sure, the Satyricon-influence is still there (just listen to ‘Fogbound’ and ‘Phantom Asylum’ for instance), but way less, and on this one Panchrysia has managed to come up with a modern sound, showing some more own identity. The old groove has been left behind a bit to create more and stronger breaks into their music, resulting in a bit more  technical black metal so to say. By doing this, they managed to bring a darker sound into their compositions. That darkness is well supported by the production of Magnus “Devo” Andersson: indeed, Marduk’s bass player. Well, the link goes on, as Mortuus has participated on this “Deathcult Salvation” as well with some vocals (and another guest Leen de Haas singing the female lead on ‘Morituri Te Salutant’).
Panchrysia sounds more versatile than ever. Massive walls of sound kick off the semi-intro ‘Stars of Delight’ creating a brutal sound, until after a bit more than a minute those breaks show up, smoothing into the second track of the album ‘Cult Driven’: if you were just a listener in stead of a reviewer, you might (should) consider this as one song. When writing such songs, it helps that the band has one of best black metal vocalists (Zahrim), who can spit out his lyrics in the right mood, rough and filled with disgust. He really manages to catch the song’s atmosphere. The song that stands apart a bit from the rest is ‘Morituri Te Salutant’. This is a slower, more atmospheric song where the lead vocals are also done by Belgian singer/ songwriter Leen de Haes, unknown within the metal scene: with her voice she puts the right, whining accent to the song. As a bonus we get a new, more direct version from the old classic “Crescendo of Hell” as a hidden bonus track.

Okay, it may be from Belgium, in stead of Scandinavia, but if you choose to limit yourself to that criterion, you will miss out on a lot of good, well-taken care of black metal, including this Belgian band: regarding that, I really believe that “Deathcult Salvation” is a highlight within the genre.