A short, concise one…
Angerseed started in 2008 as a quintet, with Péter D. Mániák aka Maniak being the sole remaining original member. Throughout the years, this band from Hungarian soil - more specific hailing from the city of Debrecen (close to the border with Romania) - did record and release a limited number of highly qualitative EPs and one full-length; the latter was released in 2016, their last official recording used to be the 2019-EP Forever Burning Hatred, so it took many years, caused by personal obstacles within Péter’s life. But hey, don’t worry, for this band, with a partly refreshed line-up, is back.
This full-length release, Rapture Is Mine… Glory Is Ours, is almost fully totally written by Péter, I mean that all lyrics (now delving even deeper into the morbid psyche of man), the better part of the music, and even the production, were conceived by the band’s frontman. The album was recorded in the period 2024-2025 at Saron Records studio with session guitarist Péter Losonczi, produced by the band at the No Silence Studios in co-operation with Istvan Simon (think: Star Eternal, Nest Of Plagues, Atrox Trauma, Needless and many more), where also mix and mastering took place. The physical release (compact-disc) was released in a partnership in between Hungary’s finest Metal Ör Die Records (they were responsible for the release of Forever Burning Hatred as well) and Pest Records from the Romanian part of Transylvania. I did not know Bertalan ‘Krowze’ Pór, who’s behind the artwork, layout and design, but the cover - a demon-like deity in black-and-white, covered by a bright lighting-sharp aura - reflects the conceptual approach of this effort.
The approach exhales an old-schooled attitude. This is the kind of Death Metal that made this genre ‘great’ more than three, about four decades ago. Rapture Is Mine… Glory Is Ours offers relentless Death Metal, combining technical textures, immersive melodies, massive blasts, an obscure atmosphere, and skilled harmonies. Sharp solo-guitars, dualling tremolo riffing, deep-gurgling grunts, megalithic drum patterns and skull-crushing skin-rape, low-tuned bass-lines and catching structures are canalized into a monumental work that reflects the attitude of honest, genuine, pure Aural Death Terror supremacy.
The album may not introduce a new direction, a renewing tendency of sound. It does offer the original greatness; a magnificence that was mercilessly betrayed throughout the years by all these bands that would –- nope, sorry, I am under total self-control right now, haha. It’s just, you know, that the essence, the roots, have been exploited over and over again, until just an empty shell remained. So imagine my enthusiasm when experiencing this effort of ‘true’ death magic.
And there’s so much ‘additional’ to experience: some spherical keyboards, Oriental-like melodies (cf. The Emptiness Within), the addition of samples, the use of some spoken vocals; and what about the remarkable bonus poem, Epilógus / Számvetés 33, an acoustic Folk-inspired composition with synths, spoken words (In Hungarian), acoustic guitars and field-recorded samples from nature?...
This said… Rapture Is Mine… Glory Is Ours comes with a fine-tuned production and a superb mix. All ingredients (instrumental and vocal) come in a fair equilibrium, with vocals and leads guiding and directing, and percussions + rhythm strings escorting in an uncompromising manner. The sound quality is neat, very neat, yet not clinically exaggerated, maintaining a rough-rusty edge, yet focusing on a decent, well-portioned engineering and a candid and solid implementation.
In interviews, Péter announced this specific approach to be(come) the future core-style of Angerseed. Well, can you see this huge smile on my face?...
Recommended if you appreciate, in an open-minded setting, the likes of Hail Of Bullets, Suffocation, Vital Remains, Malevolent Creation, Grave, Hate Eternal, Immolation, Sinister and… Well, you get the point, don’t you…
https://angerseedofficial.bandcamp.com/album/rapture-is-mine-glory-is-ours
https://pestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/angerseed-rapture-is-mine-glory-is-ours
https://metalordierex.bandcamp.com/album/angerseed-rapture-is-mine-glory-is-ours