I love delving into the side of metal where quite literally anything goes as we get bands all over the place that can just as easily do away with any sort of sensible structure in their material to bring forth an experience that’s no less than scathing as well as those who bring power more than any sort of catchiness, but then we get acts like this. Anifernyen is very much an act that’s grown up heralding the world of melodic death metal and sought to bring a slightly different dynamic to that interesting mixture, and it’s with the inclusion of black metal elements that they accomplished just that for their debut album.

There’s so much about this record that’s balanced in an almost perfect way that it’s a little off-putting simply because I’m so more used to works that would be more than happy to sacrifice some melody for power or some power for atmosphere, but Anifernyen does no such compromise here as “Augur” is a damn near immaculate balancing of what they’re going for. With an already deadly blend of black and death metal that could move mountains on its own, it’s with the melody where Anifernyen really shines as that one factor enables all eleven tracks of “Augur” to become nothing short of devastating almost as soon as the powerful rhythms and monumental vocals make their way around. It hits like a fucking truck and satisfies in ways that very few other records can lay a finger as it’s from each track to the next that Anifernyen does not disappoint for even a second as it’s through every single track that they convey a power that isn’t quite as common as you might think it is, and there is so much to go around here with more than enough for any kind of fan of the genre to happily sink their teeth into.

Debuts can be a rife with traps and pitfalls of bands not quite having a hold on moving as a single unit and such, but Anifernyen does no such thing with this album as it is virtually immaculate from top to bottom and a gripping experience whose release date I’m very excited for. “Augur” has already solidified Anifernyen as a name to know in anything melodic in metal, and I can’t wait to see how they follow it up.

“Augur” releases on September 9th!

LISTEN to Anifernyen on Facebook Bandcamp here.

LIKE Anifernyen on Facebook here.