One-Man Blackened Death Metal project breathes new life into genre.
Tom Gekas has been making music for only a few years now. The now 20 year old German native already gone through evolutions in style and sound. This one-man project started as the often darker black metal sub-genre depressive suicidal black metal (DSBM). Gekas has now shifted focus towards a fuller, more refined blackened death metal sound. Unholy MMXX is a collection of songs recorded throughout 2020. Road Rat Records is proudly putting out this release on CD, as a part of their ever expanding library. Unholy MMXX has a release date of February 18th. The small label is putting the physical copies together now in preparation. This album is aggressive, yet accessible. It is not full of the shrieks associated with traditional black metal, and approaches with a wider range of the darker elements of metal.
Unholy MMXX opens slowly with “Medication”. There is dark, black metal tone, but with a build more reserved for doom. There are parts with clean, nondistorted playing that still achieves the grim and dismal feeling of the entire song. “Life is Beautiful” is a head-banging old school death metal song. Its flowing tempo changes go from in your face, to sludging along and back again. The closing synth is an incredible addition. On “Gluttony & Egoists” the rhythm is steady and marching. The brutish and slow vocal delivery pushes the whole song forward. The bass has just enough mid range to really shine. “Forgotten Tombs” almost feels out of place, but serves as a break up in the overall sound of the album. The clean tone and wonderfully present bass pull you into an astral ride.
The ethereal organ/synth synonymous with symphonic black metal opens “Servi Satanas” and gives way to heavy punching groove. With the way the entire song is laid out, a choir is expected, but is missing. The last 30 seconds of the song is an experience to behold for any fan of dark, heavy music. The organ/synth of “Scorn of God” is choir-like and beautifully symphonic. This song blends the tone and theme of black metal with the chugging riffs of death metal. This is a textbook definition of blackened death metal. “Schuld” has something that hasn’t quite shown up yet, black metal’s infamous tremolo picking. The speed of the lead guitar pairs well with the deeper guttural vocals and heavy rhythm. The greed of man is his downfall and “this world is our fault”. Like “Schuld”, “Existence Expired V” incorporates tremolo picking speed with chunkier riffs. The lead guitar is a definite highlight. Following that same design, the instrumental “ Existence Expired VII” ups the tempo. The almost punk-like chord progression hints at the early days of black metal, when it first branched off of thrash. “In Death I Trust” is heavy, using the right amount of crunch and intensity, with an almost technical death/slam approach to black metal. To close out Unholy MMXX, “Psychological Terror” is pure, raw black metal. It has the speed and intensity of trve kvlt, but with better sound quality.
Tom Gekas is single-handedly delivering his own take on blackened death metal. Blending the savagery and tone of black metal and the brutality and heaviness of death metal. This 20 year old German multi-instrumentalist has nowhere to go but up, and needs to be followed. Unholy MMXX is available for digital download on via Bandcamp and is streaming on YouTube(below) and Spotify. It will be available on CD starting February 18th on Road Rat Records.
Get Unholy MMXX on CD at Road Rat Records
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