You could say that Remnants Of Forgotten Horrors has been a long time coming. Formed in 2009, black metallers Astrophobos released their debut EP in 2010 but this is the band’s first full-length offering. It’s a fairly decent release, but as far as black metal goes it’s nothing new or innovative.
It’s a decent mix of tracks but it doesn’t have anything that truly jumps out at you and makes a massive impression. Soul Disruptor sounds familiar; like I’ve already heard it before listening to the album, and it’s a similar story with Invocating The Void, although it does feature a damn good guitar solo in the latter half. It’s a shame because the ability is there but it just seems a little wasted as a result.
The strongest track of the album is His Abysmal Grave. It’s more of a memorable track, a little more energetic and noisy than some of the other songs and whilst it doesn’t immediately strike you, it is quite a grower and the more you listen to it, the more the guitar riffs get stuck in your head.
It’s a shame because if Astrophobos just took a step back and stopped putting such an emphasis in recreating the standard black metal sound, they could find their own sound and would probably stand out a little more. Remnants Of Forgotten Horrors is a good album, don’t get me wrong, but a bit more work is needed for it to truly stand out.
6/10
