Label: Listenable Records
Origin: Cairo, Egypt
Egyptian blackened death metallers Crescent unfurl a riff-infested carpet of ancient flesh and tattered bones with their latest full length effort. Flawlessly forging blood-curdling black metal shrieks with smoldering death metal guitar tones, Carving the Fires of Akhet is a cursed club of wicked divinity, eternally notched for every eradicated enemy.
Enshrouding their musical intentions in a gritty sinister swirl, Crescent constructs their sonic pyramid with deliberate layers of symphonics and chants before revealing the apex of their mastery. Abysmally deep grunts ride the sirocco of the desiccated backdrop’s distorted rhythm, before vocalist/guitarists Ismaeel and Youssef shake the dust off of piercing shrieks to match their own axe’s lead licks. Tightly woven percussion fills the landscape, power-shifting to each gear in stride and mixed to audible perfection.
Second track “Moot Set Waas” moves to introduce the more melodic elements of Carving the Fires of Akhet, with a minor-chord progression of traditional oud-wafting tunes preceding diabolical verses. Closing this song are sludge-filled, chunky riffs that overlay background blasting and lead to a brief hand-pounded drum fill that nods to the musicians’ origins, before blackened chaos cinches the linen-wrap tight.
Serpent of Avaris (14:08 - 21:24) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRfD98KKRoA&t=220s
Standout track “Serpent of Avaris” blows in on an ancient wind from the seat of power of the bygone rulers of Egypt’s Fifteenth Dynasty, currently submerged by millennia of sand and dust. The track opens with a thunderous inflection of bass-heavy riffs, in the vein of Behemoth, until the Satanic serenade slows to a crawl, entombing modern filler with fossilized power chords. The last minute pits a buried sermon against a mellifluous lead guitar, before fading into blackness and uncertainty, and ultimately, track four.
“Neb-Pehti-Ra” and fifth track, “Imprecations Upon Thy Flame” capitalize on mid-tempo heaviness, ala Bolt Thrower, to inflict punishing whiplash on listeners, mercilessly commanding pace just as their subject matters would control their subjects. In particular, the closing half of “Imprecations…” features slowed riffs backing barbarous barks, and a guitar neck-slide more violent than the snapping spine of the poor soul on the cover art.
“Drowned in Theban Blood” deftly coagulates many of Crescent‘s traditional melodies into one decisive chord vein, leading to the digital album’s final track: “As Nu Enshrines Death.” This song bares its teeth with addictive hits of blast-beating and blackened leads, before chomping and thrashing with guttural growls and ravenous riffs. A dramatic pause in the music calls off the attack dogs, and the introductory tempo resumes until infernal vocals and symphonic instrumentals bring Carving the Fires of Akhet to a close (and make the listener wish they had a physical version of the album – which features both Dissection and Bolt Thrower covers!)
Carving the Fires of Akhet dominates the Valley of the Kings with a concrete blend of melodic death/black metal, rivaling the legendary construction of the Great Pyramids themselves. Crescent has unchained a deliberate, evil concert of death, challenging the sanctity of the very waters of the Nile, and clandestinely dyeing them a crimson hue.
FFO: Behemoth, Watain, Nile, Bolt Thrower