Many great bands come from all over the world daily and some just catch your attention when looking for new music. Beijing, China’s Mefitis did just this for me today. I saw that they have an EP being released tomorrow titled Despair and decided to give it a listen and I must say, this is some unique, straight forward aggression that meets controlled chaos. The trio jumps around with their sound throwing together the raw power of black metal and the seasonings of progressive rock, death metal and even some thrash. This makes for an explosive style of black metal that many bands can not really pull off.
The guitar work by Allen Darling mixes perfectly with the intricate drumming by Darian Kocmur on each track. The tempo changes and transitions are exact and perfectly in sync to the point you would question if this is man or machine playing these instruments. Vocalist Rexko makes herself known in each track throwing in a mix of otherworldly black metal screams and bellowing gutturals that fit precisely in the whole puzzle at the perfect moments. The EP also has a great second wave of black metal production feel to it as it is not studio polished but also not sounding like it was recorded in a small room on a tape recorder.
Two years since their debut EP Nascence, you can hear the growth in the group’s sound. The track Cetus is the perfect example as it has so many different sounds and influences in a single track and truly shows the band’s musicianship and maturity in their own sound. Despair is honestly insane to listen to. It has everything you want in a metal release from the blast beats and tremelo riffs to the progressive rock elements that bring a familiar hard rock vibe, this is definitely a true progressive black metal release that is solid all around. If you are a fan of melodic, progressive, unique and chaotic metal, then this EP will make you very happy. You can grab a copy of Despair through this link, you won’t regret it!
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Review by Neil Andersen
