Album Review: Escarion – Pillars of the Faith (Self Released)

Australia’s death metal newcomers Escarion will release their debut full-length album, Pillars of the Faith on the 29th of January 2021.

The album is based off the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’, taking that concept from Christianity and arguing that this notion is false and oppressive. The band states:

These are not ‘sins’, instead they are human nature. Yes, excess of any of these sins may be immoral and unethical however, that can be said of any action or emotion in excess. Greed outlines that this primitive desire of wanting more than the confines of our life circumstances, the power of greed to create ethical and sustainable change contrasted with the evil of excess greed, creating a system that is so inherently corrupt that it literally feeds off the blood of the people. It is ironic that possibly the only way to destroy this system of greed is a greedy lust for change within humanity, greed for more and for humanity to flourish so we may live our lives in harmony within ourselves and our communities.

An attention-grabbing concept, it remains to be heard just how Escarion portray such complexities in their music. Kicking off Inferno with soft guitar melody and like the title suggests, erupting like a geyser of blinding fire. Viciously heavy, these newcomers know exactly how to attack the senses with death metal and they’re not letting up.

The deadly sins get started with Envy. Which brings some seriously heavyweight noise with butchered rhythm, wild guitar soloing and a bevy of squealing and sharpened riffing. Then Gluttony showcases a filthy and chuggy sound. Whereas Lust is a chunky beast that will have all fans of death metal licking their lips in pleasure.

Full? Not a bloody chance as both Greed and Pride demand you dive face-first into the ruthlessness Escarion represent. The distinctive capabilities of this band ensuring each sin is represented by varying scaring levels of manic death metal noise.

Which means Wrath’s ferocity should come as no surprise. Nor should it feel as though Escarion have you by the throat and are screaming in your face, but it does. Still, the tale is almost done as the penultimate track, Sloth is anything but that. There is no laziness to this band and even as things come to a conclusion, they’re still keeping the blend of bedlam and musical torment tight and stimulating.

It’s up to Home (Where the Heart Is) to wrap up things with one last bone-crunching effort. Although here we get some effective melody too to ensure the banging record goes out with some variety.

Escarion – Pillars of the Faith Full Track Listing:

1. Inferno
2. Envy
3. Gluttony
4. Lust
5. Greed
6. Pride
7. Wrath
8. Sloth
9. Home (Where the Heart Is)

Links

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