Band: ARS VENEFICIUM
Country: Belgium
Title: Usurpation of the Seven
Label: Immortal Frost Productions
Year: 2020
Style: Black Metal

Review:
Damn, this new album by Limburg based Ars Veneficium is a total blast from start to finish! It starts to abrupt, so brutal that you think you're going to be flogged with relentless speed and brutality all throughout the album, but luckily that's not the case. Although most part of it it's a perfect blend between the most intense speed and the most visceral ferocity, Ars Veneficium has the ability and capacity to offer much, much more: the drumming is so energetic and technical I can't believe it at times, the guitar work is top of the class, so well structured and balanced between neck-breaking riffs and melodic harmonies, and the bass lines are fat metallic sounding just enough to emphasize the massiveness of these compositions without taking the thing towards a doomy path, no, this is energy and fuckin' brutality at its best. I left the vocals at the end because I'm still not convinced if they are perfect for the instrumental part or if they still need some more variation, but just to build on this second option the band made the perfect (!) choice of inviting Greek V.Priest of Acherontas to add a touch of Hellenic monumental vocals on the intro and the track De Luiaard Heerst which is also my fave on the album, a true fuckin' Black Metal hymn, check it out! Yes, I got pretty enthusiastic about this album, but didn't expect to click so much with it, to be right on my alley, so obviously I recommend it to you too; I love Enthroned, but in my books Ars Veneficium are the new Belgium Black Metal kings...
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9.5/10

Contact:
facebook.com/arsveneficiumofficial
immortalfrostproductions.com