Welcome the Divine Comedy: Inferno to the stage! The latest release by Ukrainian thrash group Bestial Invasion is an audible rollercoaster. Part thrills and part wanting to vomit, Let’s start down this path, shall we?
Limbo, Lust, Gluttony and Anger
(No, it’s not a roadmap to a terrible Saturday night. )
The first 4 tracks are sometimes groovy with vocals that make your head swirl with memories of Candlemass. I’ve found myself wrapped up in the progressive aspect of this album quite quickly. Crisp production and super catchy, driving riffs abound. ‘Limbo’ sets the pace for the rest of this album to unfold. Serg MP’s bass lines added to Andrey Ischenkos’ talent on the drums in Anger left yours truly definitely wanting more. Like taking a ride on the back of a Nightmare through a black forest of trees.
Greed
This track opens like a ray of sun brightening a ancient glade. The ethereal vocals swimmingly take flight with a driving rhythm. Definitely my most favored track on this album. Why is this only just over 2 minutes long? I wanted so much more.
Violence, Fraud and Treachery
With the final 3 tracks, I am again drawn in by the fantastic bass lines, but it really stops there. The great storytelling that this album began with starts to unravel here, unfortunately. Somewhere along the line, it felt like they were just trying to throw in every odd breakdown and style that they had ever learned. By the time I hit Treachery, I knew why it had received that as a name. A tiring, super jumpy disjointed 6 minutes that I’d like back.
Released November 14, 2021
Bestial Invasion can be found at: Facebook vk.com
Bestial Invasion is:
Vakhtango Zadiev – vocals
Serg MP (Metal Priest) – bass
Alexander Klaptsov – rhythm guitars, acoustic guitars
Denis Shvarts – solo guitars, keyboards
Andrey Ischenko – drums
Original cover art “Harpies in the Forest of Suicides”(1890) by Gustave Doré
Check out our reviews of Stormkeep, Cave Bastard, Agent Steel, and Swallow the Sun.
Great review Darlene. I totally think that if they put this out as an E.P. (aka ditching the last three songs), I would have been far more into this. As it stands now, I’ll just cherry pick a few from the front half for some Candlemass-ish vibes. 🙂