by Metal Child Media
Our Rating : 8/10 [ Masterpiece ]
I’ve been quite careful and
usually need to spin a few times before judging any albums. The main reason was
due to the creativity and originality presented in any musical works shouldn’t
be taken lightly.
Sektemtum returned in a
solemn way, their second studio album "Panacea" is going to arrive on 26th
May 2016 bearing a lot of surprises. I seriously heard more ambition,
seriousness and aggression on this album. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mean their
debut "Aut Caesar, Aut Nihil" (2012) was not good, but in fact it’s a damn good
album and this time you can hear more complexity and consistency in their
latest release.
The reason that I didn’t
bring in "Aut Caesar, Aut Nihil" (2012) was because Malaysian listeners are at
least 20 years disconnected from the world of metal, exploring something new is
not really the custom in this country. No matter how good an album is, a new
band’s debut album usually takes us more than 1-2 years to sell a copy, sounds
ridiculous ? Don’t laugh, no joke. Strangely, many customers still blaming
records stores for not bringing in new titles…, probably they need to know the
bloody scenario before giving such comment.
Now back to 2016, an album like "Panacea" creates a different prospect for us, having its masterpiece-quality from a band now with good track record. Undoubtedly, this album is going to act as a good introducer of the band and their debut album together to the metal fans in 2016. Sektemtum was not in their comfort zone after their debut, the coming release "Panacea" is restlessly good, keeping you tense all the time with the coarse shrieks vocals that are unique, very recognizable and aggressive, and also compatibly working well with the guitar works and drummings. All the tracks were carefully constructed, combined with strong industrial metal elements and influences, at the same time laced with the right dosage of alternative metal, a black metal music was immediately transformed and sounds unpredictable. After all, black Industrial metal is not that common in Black Metal scene. Unexpected lengthy tracks are also rare and adding more complexity to this album. Surely, French-bred black metal doesn’t get any better than this.
However, the "minimalism" of the artwork (the wolf) on the cover looks bland, and the 6th track "LeCrepuscule des Idoles" is downright alternative metal, it is placed in the middle of the track-listing which has built a clear divider to cut the album into half, furthermore it doesn't sound in resonance with the whole concept of the album. Making this track as a bonus track, move it to the last position or completely deleting this track would make this album sounds more compact. After all, there are 12 tracks, these two complaints are minor and I don't have other complaints other than these.
