It has been quite some time now since I have discovered a black metal band that I instantly fell in love with their music. Canadian black metal project The Projectionist have accomplished just that with their hellish sounds of agony and torture. After 2018’s Visits from the Nighthag Part 1 and last year’s Visits from the Nighthag Part 2, The Stench of Amalthia is this year’s offering and may I say, this album is their best work to date. Released this past April through Moribund Records, this album stepped up the entrancing darkness that surround The Projectionist’s ritualistic sound.
Between the chaotic tremolo riffs that weave parts of DSBM and even some black n’ roll, the pounding drums and otherworldly screams, that is enough alone to make any listener want to set up some candles, draw out that pentagram with blood and summon the Dark Lord but they took it a step further. Taking clips from what sound to be from movies, it just adds to the atmosphere. Tracks like Sepulchral Oak Door and Summoning Transference are prime examples of these descents into madness. The added spoken parts, sound clips and the music all tie in together to keep you equal parts entranced, anxious and in perpetual dread. Now you may read that and say, “Why would I want to feel those things while trying to listen to a black metal album?” Well, I did not write or create the music but it is amazing that such an artist can invoke so many feelings while listening to their music.
Honestly, this is one of the most unique black metal releases I have ever heard. The atmosphere, the panning of sounds, clips and voices and just the raw, cult-like droning tones all mix together to create this apocalyptic cocophony titled The Stench of Amalthia. If you like bands like Cultes des Ghoules, Negative Plane and Mortuary Drape, then this is another masterpiece the metal community did not know they needed. I am willing to bet my soul to the devil you will enjoy this, if not then I’ll see you in hell while I headbang to this album.
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Review by Neil Andersen
