Artist: Strychnos
Country: Denmark
Label: Dark Descent Records
Formats: 7″ EP
Year: 2025
This 7” EP is the twin of ‘Sig Nærmer Døden’, the other EP that was simultaneously released by Dark Descent Records. Both EP’s are a natural continuation of what the band has been doing the last couple of years. After having what you could say was a slow start, Strychnos really got on their collective bikes and have released a two albums as well as these two 7” EP’s in about three years’ time. Not a bad score for a band that’s releasing really high-quality stuff that absolutely doesn’t feel like a rush job. Or, well, not really…
For a change, let’s spin this one around and start with the B-side. Where ‘Sig Nærmer Døden’ had a very interesting re-recording of a demo/EP track that originally appeared some quarter century ago. Strychnos updated and slightly rearranged that track to their modern standards without really violating the original structure. Despite my natural aversion to re-recordings, this one I found particularly interesting as Strychnos has beautifully developed its exuberant and somewhat avant-garde style over the years. However, the flipside of this 7” EP is much less interesting. It contains a pre-recording demo of one of the songs that appear on 2024’s ‘Armageddon Patronage’. Not only is this a very recently released album, but the recordings do not differ that much from each other either. The version that appears on this 7” EP is just slightly rougher around the edges and overall a tad less sophisticated, but that’s basically it. Therefore the necessity of including this version is somewhat unclear to me.
The title track on the A-side, however, is yet another display of the great song writing skills of the Danes. ‘Uendelig Begravelsesmarch’ is a prima example of what Strychnos anno 2025 stands for: Extreme Metal that’s lavishly decorated with many surprising elements and an obvious deluge of different influences. Strychnos is a band that’s increasingly difficult to file under the traditional labels in metal. There’s still obviously some Death Metal building blocks here, but seem merely echoes of their past as their music now consists out of elements taken from Black Metal as well as Doom Metal. Consequently, this new track, just like the majority of their newer material, feels like a fusion of those styles and treats you on some gloomy and expertly crafted music that will appeal to those who have a broader musical focus.
