I have a soft spot for thrash metal. Being older than time itself, I was lucky enough to hit my teenage years when thrash metal hit it’s stride in the mid-eighties, and even though that means I’m closer to death than I am life these days, at least I can say that I was at there for the birth of Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, et al.
Not much of a consolation in my old age, but… yay Metallica, I guess?
Anyhow, over the many years – have I mentioned I’m old? – I have watched thrash metal metamorphosis into many different creatures and many different genres, but out of all the beasts to crawl from the depths, very few have impressed me more than Eldritch by Emissary.
The press release states;
Embark on a harrowing journey into the unfathomable void with Eldritch, a sonic odyssey that delves into the heart of cosmic horror… The album is a descent into madness, a chaotic symphony that blurs the lines between reality and nightmare. Each track drags you deeper into the abyss, where sanity frays and forbidden truths lie hidden in the darkness. The atmosphere is oppressive yet mesmerizing, with relentless rhythms and haunting melodies echoing the vast, indifferent cosmos.
And they ain’t fucking lying.
Eldritch is one hell of a dark record, and considering its subject matter I’m not surprised. As you can imagine, Eldritch is heavily steeped in Cthulhu mythos and this is reflected in the lyrics throughout, with an undercurrent of horror that is so sharp that you can taste it on the back of your tongue, with monsters and cosmic terrors so real that the visions will stay withnyou long after the last note has faded, but no matter how gripping a yarn this may be, without the music to back it up then it wouldn’t work.
Emissary deliver on this front and then some. It would’ve been easy for Emissary to just pummel the listener into submission with a relentless assault to the senses, but the genius of Eldritch is that they mix different sounds to help weave a musical tapestry that takes in thrash, death, extreme, and even goth metal.
It is perfect for the subject matter and has an edge to it that adds to the overriding claustrophobia that fills each second of Eldritch.
Eldritch is an album that will suffocate you. It will possess your soul with the cosmic horror that lurks within and if you are a fan of Lovecraft and a fan of metal, there is nothing that is currently in the heavy realms of music that comes even close.
Terror has a new name, my friends, at that name is Emissary.
Eldritch by Emissary is available now on Fetzner Death Records.
