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Band: Misanthropia
Album title: Convoy Of Sickness
Release date: 18th December 2020
Label: Massacre Records
Genre: Symphonic/Melodic Black Metal
Tracklist:
01. Convoy Of Sickness
02. Silent War
03. Pathological Desire To Kill
04. Nicodemus Narcissus
05. Sorrow Made Flesh
06. Aan de Herwijnse zijde
07. The Unburied
08. The Eagle And The Hare
09. Roze Balletten
10. Through The Eye Of The Needle
Coming from Nijmegen, in the Netherlands, Misanthropia is a symphonic black metal band with a differentiated and musically multifaceted approach since 2005. Currently, the band line-up is Bram Koller (vocals/guitar), Dennis Schoenmaker (guitar), Pepijn Heilbron (bass), Hugo de Waal (drums) and Thijs Mulders (keyboard). Misanthropia's lyrics are inspired by the ugliest things in humanity.
The first album, Rise Of Necropolis (2006), with a more open approach, showed the destruction of the planet regarding hate and the apocalypse. Slang Des Doods (2010) plunged into the dark terrain of the human mind. After six years of silence, they released Omerta, a concept album that addressed to the crimes in the USA during 1930 till the war. In December 2020, Misanthropia released Convoy Of Sickness, a heavyweight concept album covering the local criminal scene in Holland and Belgium from the 70s to the present day. I want to emphasise the message that the album brings, since nowadays many songs are empty, without interesting content, and that's where many bands get lost, but this is not the case with Misanthropia, the band has a content.
The compositions of Convoy Of Sickness are complex, the main focus is symphonic/melodic black metal. But not that kind that falls in repetitions, that are not opened to other styles, on the contrary, the guys explore many terrains, from the classical metal to death and thrash sometimes. The ability to merge different styles makes the album very interesting and enjoyable, it's solid, aggressive, contemporary, sometimes scary and no doubt clear. The title track it's worthy of a psychological horror film, and it prepared me for the stories that followed. A good intro to "Silent War", a fast beat track, almost mind-blowing, clean and clear instrumentation with enthralling guitar riffs. "Pathological Desire To Kill" starts slowly with a clean guitar melody that opens the scenario for fast drumming. The music unfolds, between the drums, the bewitched riffs and the inquisitive vocals.
One of my favourite tracks, "Nicodemus Narcissus" is a song inspired by the first Dutch mafia godfather Klaas Bruinsma. Its fast-paced music, scary vocals and the symphonic elements are captivating. I love this track, no wonder I spun it three times on my radio show. "Sorrow Made Flesh" has some death metal oriented guitar riffs, it's another very interesting track, and the guys definitively know what they are doing. "Aan De Herwinjse Zijde" aside to be an instrumental track leads me to medieval times here and there, but I can still feel the taste of nowadays. "The Unburied" is the slowest track of this album, again I need to point out the excellent work that comes from the guitars. "The Eagle And The Hare" and "Roze Balletten" are the other two songs that comprise my favourite tracks. These tracks are more technical, and I also notice some death metal approaches in the guitar's work. "Through The Eye Of The Needle" is the closing track, again the guitars that enchanted me along with the whole album, the bass here also did amazing work, not forgetting to quote the keyboards that are very skillfully.
Misanthropia is a band of impeccable intellectual and artistic content, and Convoy Of Sickness is one of more excellent works done by them. I also have to mention the excellent artwork done by Jan “Örkki” Yrlund, his painting perfectly matches the music. In short, the band's work and everyone involved in its production were astounding, the album is relentless in all aspects. Without doubt an album for those who merit musical quality and valuable content. Congratz guys!
The review was written by Felin Frost
Rating: 10/10
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