Album review: Astrophobos “Corpus”
Astrophobos gives us accessible Swedish black metal on its new album.
Musically, Astrophobos’ take on black metal is a little bit different from your standard black metal music. On the new album “Corpus”, they sing all the songs in their native Swedish. The music is a bit less chaotic. They let all the instruments, vocals and melodies be properly heard in a busy soundscape. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of sinister and heavy black metal in Astrophobos. We get blast beats, tremolo picking and harsh growling. But they are a bit cleaner in their execution of the music which is fairly melodic. Some of the songs, or parts of songs, are somewhat slower (in a doomy way) and, as a result, probably more accessible than your typical basement black metal. Perhaps this is black metal for grown-ups (what do I know?). Anyhow, these subtle differences make Astrophobos stand out and should win them new fans not only in black metal circles but in the wider world of music fans. The terrific “Till djupet” is my standout track on a great album which consists of seven tracks. The trio, formed in Stockholm in 2009, consists of Martin Andersson and Jonas Ehlin on guitars and Mikael Broman on bass and vocals. “Corpus” Is the band’s third full-length studio album and follow’s 2019’s “Malice of Antiquity”. On the album, session drums are played by Simon Samuelsson (ex-Ofermod) and Elisabetta Marchetti (INNO, ex-Riti Occulti) appears with some excellent background vocals.
Astrophobos album “Corpus” is out now via Triumvirate Records.
