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Album Review – When Plagues Collide / An Unbiblical Paradigm (2023)

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Belgium’s own Symphonic Deathcore institution returns with an even more impressive and bold opus that will certainly reach deep inside your blackened heart and soul.

Five years after the release of their excellent debut full-length album Tutor of the Dying, Zaventem, Belgium-based Symphonic Deathcore beast When Plagues Collide is back with an even more impressive and bold album, their sophomore effort titled An Unbiblical Paradigm, highly recommended for admirers of the music by Shadow Of Intent, Lorna Shore and Thy Art Is Murder, among others. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Yarne Heylen at Project Zero Studio, the new album by vocalist Wouter Dergez, guitarists Santy Van der Mieren and Joris Dergez, bassist Joshua Kinsbergen and drummer Siebe Hermans continues to showcase a focused and sharp band venturing through the realms of Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Black Metal and Metalcore just like in Tutor of the Dying, but this time the quintet took up their music a notch, delivering an even stronger and more electrifying work that will certainly reach deep inside your blackened heart and soul.

An atmospheric start gradually evolves into a Symphonic Deathcore attack titled Converted Into Cipher, with Siebe hammering his drums mercilessly while Wouter roars and screams like a demonic beast, or in other words, it’s indeed a fantastic tune to kick things off; and things get even heavier and more infernal in Death In Progress, featuring guest vocals by Sven de Caluwé (Aborted, Coffin Feeder, Bent Sea), with Santy and Joris kicking some serious ass armed with their axes in the name of first-class Deathcore. God Complex is absolutely epic, imposing and majestic from start to finish, with the deep guttural by Wouter sounding truly inhumane in paradox with the song’s background keys, not to mention how thunderous the kitchen crafted by Joshua and Siebe is, whereas in The Glutton we face wicked lyrics barked by Wouter (“In the absence of daylight / We lay dying in the palm of the promised land / Where failure meets hate and mercilessness / Dominated by the sick and the cold / These barren grounds were always welcoming the nomads we are / An eternity of dying is nothing -Death is our womb”) amidst a furious Symphonic Deathcore madness.

Then the band’s stringed trio formed of Santy, Joris and Joshua will make your head tremble with their venomous riffs and bass lines in Monopoly Of Violence while Siebe keeps pounding his drums nonstop, followed by the demented The Grand Mouth Of Hell, most probably their darkest creation to date, showcasing all of their talent, rage and passion for extreme music spearheaded by the hellish gnarls by Wouter and the always piercing riffage by Santy and Joris. In Devourer Of Memories the band offers us all another round of their acid words (“This inexorable wind collects the lives of the lost and the wandering / Spreading sorrow and despondency / Whilst offering salvation through the breath of extinction / Reaching out her cold hands to deliver and ensure the loss of our cherished and beloved”) spiced up by their sick, heavy-as-hell sound, while ending the album we have the melancholic and atmospheric outro In Alle Stilte (or “in complete silence” from Dutch), with its delicate background sounds walking hand in hand with the words declaimed by Wouter.

The talented and hard working guys from When Plagues Collide are waiting for you with their undisputed Symphonic Deathcore on Facebook and on Instagram, and you can also stream all of their creations on Spotify. Furthermore, above all that, don’t forget to purchase a copy of the breathtaking An Unbiblical Paradigm from Apple Music, or click HERE for all things When Plagues Collide. It’s simply amazing to witness the growth of When Plagues Collide from their previous effort Tutor of the Dying to the sensational An Unbiblical Paradigm, positioning those Belgian metallers as one of the references in Symphonic Deathcore worldwide and, consequently, giving us several reasons to keep banging our heads and raising our horns to their first-class music.

Best moments of the album: Death In Progress, God Complex and The Grand Mouth Of Hell.

Worst moments of the album: I think In Alle Stilte could have been placed before Devourer Of Memories, which would have given the album a much more climatic ending.

Released in 2023 Necktwister/Sonic Rendezvous

Track listing
1. Converted Into Cipher 3:52
2. Death In Progress 5:03
3. God Complex 3:25
4. The Glutton 3:38
5. Monopoly Of Violence 4:23
6. The Grand Mouth Of Hell 4:33
7. Devourer Of Memories 4:39
8. In Alle Stilte 2:46

Band members
Wouter Dergez – vocals
Santy Van der Mieren – guitar
Joris Dergez – guitar
Joshua Kinsbergen – bass
Siebe Hermans – drums

Guest musician
Sven de Caluwé – additional vocals on “Death In Progress”

Album Review – Provectus / Postero Mundi (2022)

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Inspired by the early pioneers of the genre, this Belgian horde carries the spirit of old school Black Metal in their pulverizing newborn beast.

Founded in 2015 in Vosselaar, a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp, while rooted from the minds of vocalist and guitarist Tempore Anomalia and drummer Obitus, the unrelenting, old school Black Metal horde Provectus focuses on creating quality 90’s Black Metal cutting into a diverse range of lyrical themes, always inspired by the early pioneers of the genre such as Immortal and Dissection. Now in 2022 it’s time for Tempore Anomalia and Obitus, together with bassist Roach, to crush us all with the rawness and brutality found in their first full-length opus Postero Mundi, which translates from Latin as “the next world”, the follow-up to their 2018 debut EP Existential Delusion. Produced and mixed by the band itself, mastered by Yarne Heylen at Project Zero Recording Studio, and featuring a sinister artwork by Kris Verwimp, Postero Mundi carries the spirit of old school Black Metal by distancing itself from the modern fusions and endless subgenres , being therefore highly recommended for admirers of the darkest and most sulfurous side of extreme music.

Sinister organ pipes and epic background sounds invite us all to join Provectus in pitch black darkness in the intro Gloria Dolorem before the trio pulverizes our souls with the title-track Postero Mundi, with Obitus delivering pure hatred from his old school Black Metal blast beats accompanied by the rumbling bass by Roach while Tempore Anomalia vociferates like a true servant of the underworld. In Aetherflow Dimensions we face poetry flowing from the song’s lyrics (“In a distant vision a grace to behold, where the dark has shifted and the space seems so cold. / Mystical and phenomenal sights of blazing lights beckoning to me.”) while the trio keeps hammering their instruments nonstop; followed by Bane of Existence, starting in a melodic, somber manner before Tempore Anomalia begin extracting pure obscurity from his riffage while growling deeply at the same time, and all that heaviness and violence keeps growing in intensity in the name of classic Black Metal.

It’s then time for the phantasmagorical, spine-chilling interlude Lucid Nightmare, led by the unearthly keys by Tempore Anomalia, captivating our souls before we face the imposing Torn Fabric of Time, bringing forward total fuckin’ mayhem in the form of unrelenting Black Metal masterfully blasted by those Belgian demons. Moreover, Obitus is on absolute fire behind his drums making the earth tremble, while Tempore Anomalia declaims the song’s infernal words from the bottom of his blackened heart, not to mention how metallic and sulfurous the bass lines by Roach sound and feel. A gargantuan roar by Tempore Anomalia kick off the fulminating aria Disordered Phenomenon, where his own riffs add tons of malignancy to the overall result and also showcasing another brutal performance by Obitus on drums; whereas in Fractured Entity we have one last round of their wicked lyrics (“The saga continues endlessly. / Insanity drifting the emotionless sea. / Absorbed and hexed by apathy. / The cosmic curse of the entity!”), presenting elements from Doom Metal to enhance the song’s obscurity.

The gates of the underworld are wide open, and Provectus are there waiting for you to join them in the name of old school, visceral Black Metal to the sound of their amazing new album, which by the way is available for a full listen on Spotify. Also, don’t forget to follow the band on Facebook and on Instagram, to subscribe to their YouTube channel, and above all that, to purchase the caustic, devilish Postero Mundi from the band’s own BandCamp page, from the Necktwister’s webstore, or from Apple Music. Provectus are among us to spread sheer hatred and obscurity with their newborn beast, putting Belgium in the map of classic Black Metal and, therefore, giving us all a very good reason to darkly smile while listening to their evil creations on our path to the next world.

Best moments of the album: Postero Mundi, Torn Fabric of Time and Disordered Phenomenon.

Worst moments of the album: Fractured Entity.

Released in 2022 Necktwister

Track listing
1. Gloria Dolorem 1:40
2. Postero Mundi 7:16
3. Aetherflow Dimensions 7:49
4. Bane of Existence 6:53
5. Lucid Nightmare 2:28
6. Torn Fabric of Time 10:02
7. Disordered Phenomenon 4:01
8. Fractured Entity 7:05

Band members
Tempore Anomalia – vocals, guitars, synths, keys
Roach – bass
Obitus – drums