Metal Debate Album Review - Okkult III (Atrocity)

The Great Metal Debate Podcast

Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate podcast. Today we’re reviewing the album from German metal act Atrocity - their newest release Okkult III. For my money, Okkult III is a solid metal album with a great mix of tracks. Short of perfection, but still pretty badass. As an overview, I’d categorize the songs on Okkult III as falling into three general camps – those that are more traditional death metal fare, a few more varied extreme metal songs, and a couple of tracks that are full-blown symphonic death metal. Let’s explore, starting with the more base-line death metal offerings… The second track – “Fire Ignites” – is one such song. Rapid-fire throughout, it is a furious beast of a track that thrashes the listener at every turn while remaining on the rails. A frenzied, calamitous feel to it, with the double bass drums putting the pressure at all the right points. Another song emblematic of this execution is “Cypka” – one of my favorite tracks on the album. Just a solid death metal song, with killer ambiance, screaming guitars, outstanding vocals, and tempo changes that drag the listener further toward the fray. Later on the album, “Lycanthropia” unleashes a machine gun blastfest of death metal bravado. Next let’s look at the tracks that deviate slightly from this template with a bit more complexity or nuance. “Bleeding For Blasphemy” has a warmer tone and some light background keys. I really like the chorus on this one. Not quite melodeath, but not far off either. “Teufelsmarsh” provides a marching intro and then moves right into furious drumming and evil riffs punctuated by spasmic lead breaks. The track “Priest Of Plague” alternates between melody and mayhem following a dark, brooding intro. Other songs are more extreme, or at least have some twists and turns that set them apart. “Faces From Beyond” is a straightahead burner reminiscent of Slayer. I like what they were trying to do with this track, but the structure of the guitar melody perhaps wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been. “Born To Kill” doesn’t suffer from such a weakness; it’s one of my favorite songs on the album. A tad groovier than the rest, and I just love the main riff here! Admittedly not the most sophisticated lyrical construction on this one but, ya know, it’s heavy metal, right? The final two tracks I’ve not mentioned – “Desecration Of God” and “Malicious Sukkubus” are both more in the symphonic death metal style, with the later being even more ‘symphonic-esque’. The vile chanting at the beginning “Desecration Of God” sets the stage, although the track evens out later into mostly a tidy headbanger. A quality song, albeit with an abrupt ending. And, finally, “Malicious Sukkubus” is my favorite track on the entire album. Majestic atmosphere, haunting voices crying from the shadows, and I really enjoyed the contrast between the verses and chorus. Vocally, you know what to expect from Alex Krull. A deep growl with plenty of grit but enough pitch you can generally hear the lyrics. Perhaps not the widest vocal range, but he sufficiently mixes his approach up throughout to keep it fresh. I think the vocal issue is partially why I so like “Malicious Sukkubus” which features guest vocals as well as “Cypka” which has eastern European-sounding spoken words – a bit more difference and well-executed distinction on those tracks. As I listened to the album I developed a love-hate relationship with the occasional backing keys. Sometimes – as in – “Desecration Of God” – I wasn’t always a huge fan of how they were utilized. Other places – such as in the background to the chorus and elsewhere in “Bleeding For Blasphemy” – I thought they were perfectly employed. In summary, I really like this release. This album might not make my ‘best of’ for the year, but there’s not a bad track on here and the whole thing is a ton of fun if you don’t take it too seriously. This is a solid offering that I see getting plenty of rotation in my earbuds.