Album Review: Fornicus – Hymns of Dominion (Negative Earth Records)

Birthed in the heart of America’s bible belt in late 2012, Fornicus was conceived to cast darkness over the ignorant masses and their foolish dogmas. Blending qualities of black, thrash, and even a taste of death the band creates a vicious aural assault that will quench the listener’s thirst for all things metal.

There is no escaping the brutality on show here, Hymns of Dominion is an assault on the ears and the mind. There is no letup here, it is non-stop throughout the 11 track run. Those looking for melody or experimentation should look elsewhere, this is all about the heaviness, showcased from the very start with Duodecad Aflame.

Unfortunately it ends up sounding messy with the vocals being really low in the mix. It’s a pity as there is some really good stuff going on, if you can pick it out.

Thankfully the more the album goes on the production improves & it begins to flow better becoming much more listenable. The beats start to stand out more and the difference in tempos really get the head moving.

This style of music can make differentiating between tracks tough though with Aflame & Feast for the Rats sounding like the same song. It’s not helped by the way they flow into each other.

It’s during Searing the Scourge of Christendom where things get interesting. No different at first before dropping into a slower, moodier & lower toned tune that puts some great guitar work at the fore-front. Being the longest song on the album it mixes it’s styles up a bit but rarely strays too far from the death metal.

The improvement continues with Marytrs (Destroyers of Divinity) which has a much more doomier sound, far more pleasing to the ear. Possibly the best song on the album but not exactly a stone-walled classic.

The album gets way more imaginative (Woeful Oppressor has a lovely guitar solo that really perks the ears up) & better sounding as it goes on but it sounds far too familiar. It’s got plenty of heart & conviction but not a lot else. A few of the songs go on for far too long with out much happening.

Full Tracklist:

1. Conjuring The Adversary
2. Duodecad Aflame
3. Feast For Rats
4. Searing the Scourge of Christendom
5. Martyrs (Destroyers of Divinity)
6. Hordes of the Abyss
7. Wake of the Churning Depths
8. Woeful Oppressor
9. Blessed By His Holy Jism
10. Kill Yourselves, Kill Each Other
11. Nyctophiliac

The album is due out on Halloween, October 31st 2016. You can pre-order the album from their bandcamp page and check out their Facebook page. You can also check out some of their music over on YouTube.

We would like to thank Fornicus and FullBlast! PR for providing us with a copy of the new album for review purposes.