Review: “Beyond the Fate of Death” by Askesis

As a band Askesis was born into this World in Venice Italy in 2013, writing their name in the sands of time with 2016 EP “The Path To Absence“. Taking the best of both Black and Death Metal and combining them with existentialist themes that muse on concepts from ancient Greek myths while projecting them into contemporaneity, the band seek to learn from the old while bleeding the new. The left hand path to their debut album “Beyond the Fate of Death” was a journey first embarked on some six years ago and in 2018 they released a demo titled “Black Ontology” from which original versions of three songs presented on the album appear. A concept record, inspired by the “Myth of Sisyphous” written by the philosopher Albert Camus, each composition delves into the human psyche and presents a unique perspective on life and its complexities…

…the juxtaposition between Black and Death Metal is exceptionally well balanced throughout “Beyond the Fate of Death”, treading a path that others fear to and leading to Extreme Metal in its purist form. Pummelling percussion from Samuele Scalise helps create a dark and foreboding atmosphere that soaks “Retaliation” to the bone. A cut that sets the tone for the album with a fierce quality that borders on raw, it drives home the coffin nails with bursts of blasting, the band have somehow found a balance between old and new that others have not. It’s very much like you can hear the heritage but the edges have been sharpened and the blades are bloodstained. A haunting melancholic melody at the bitter black heart of “Creation of Non-Existence” is almost nauseating within the whirlwind of percussive battery, the violent turbulence of the sonic abrasion a storm to be weathered. Nico Fabbri’s vocals are scorching throughout, his accent almost but not quite lost in the winds of plague that emanate from his throat. The first of the pieces that don’t originate on the aforementioned 2018 demo, “Logical Suicide” is a Black Metal hell ride of restless and relentlessness that batters the skull as riffs fly in all directions. There is a clear transition between the older songs and this new piece, something that you might not expect and yet is there to be witnessed. Continuing the punishment, “Dawn of Current Inferno” seeks to push us into confronting our biases, preconceptions and fears to find a deeper connection with the World around us. That message is one that could have easily been lost in the blazing inferno of riffs from smouldering fretboards, if Fabbri had a more vicious bite and deeper growl to his vocal performance. Instead his uncleans are clean enough to convey the message with an inner rage exposed and by the end of this one he sounds drained while trapped in the perpetual agony of the rising flames.

The winds of plague carry pestilence with them across an apocalyptic wasteland before a melancholic bassline from Laura Nardelli brings “King of Somberness” into focus. A curious piece that has all the barbed venom of its predecessors, the rich and playful bassline continues in polar opposition to the rest of the composition and yet in perfect harmony. Rather than the thing that should not be, it gives everything a macabre quality, perhaps having roots in classical music that aren’t exposed. A white knuckle thrill ride, “Stone of Perdition” twists the knife with another eerie melody at its bitter black heart while Fabbri reaches hitherto unheard demonic new lows. Its as if his voice has aged with the torment of exposing his inner thoughts and against a backdrop of menacing and sinister riffage he sounds like a different creature entirely. The riffs are once again bountiful, the Gregorio Di Angilla and Juri Vatova never afraid to return to Pandora’s box to chose in implement of destruction of the highest of quality. It has to be said that while Blackened Death Metal is a genre in its own right, this should be considered Deathened Black Metal. An anguished final verse stirs the soul before “With No Death that Chases Us” tears a hole in the fabric of space and time. Once again building from a slow burn to a blazing inferno, Askesis know no fear as they commit dark alchemy by pooling their influences from Slayer to Behemoth and Vader into a monstrous cut that demonstrates their ultimate power as they are indeed more than the sum of their parts. The musicianship is impeccable and the pacing electric as the student comes the master, no longer bound in chains but free to begin a blood thirsty reign of terror of their own. A final flourish from that 2018 demo, “Black Ontology” is an absolute skull splitter. A cut that is the epitome of what Askesis are about, it finds the band consolidating their position in their new found power with aplomb… [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Retaliation
2. Creation of Non-Existence
3. Logical Suicide
4. Dawn of Current Inferno
5. King of Somberness
6. Stone of Perdition
7. With No Death that Chases Us
8. Black Ontology

“Beyond the Fate of Death” by Askesis is out 20th October 2023 via Time To Kill Records with pre-orders available digitally here and physically here.