Nogothula - Telluric Sepsis [Blood harvest - 2024]Now fully available on all formats, Nogothula's Telluric Sepsis sees the band wailing as a quartet, bringing pummeling death metal to the masses on their debut album. Growing from a duo, to a trio, then again to their current four man form in the past three years, Nogothula have come together like Voltron to bring dark, spacey, supernatural death to all those that are willing to receive. Blending both brutal and progressive elements, Telluric Sepsis is both engaging and challenging, offering up different experiences based on one's mood during each spin. Finely tuned and absolutely ripping, this certainly doesn't play like a debut, but rather that of a band with a few albums to stand upon, reaching for the next rung on the ladder. Telluric Sepsis is rooted in fast, heavy death with its branches reaching up into more progressive realms of the genre. Bridging these two areas gives Nogothula a lot of area to get lost in, but the band keeps their sights set on their destination and don't stray from their path. Well written, tightly arranged, and deftly played, Telluric Sepsis moves with the agility and strength of a supernatural hunter, rolling though on pummeling percussion, wrecking ball riffing, and vicious vocals. Adding more depth to the mix, Nogothula employ two vocalists to hit both the rough gutturals and witchy, cursed screams. However, the four aren't content to just steamroll through their debut with raw power and speed, they also change up the tempos and direction quite a bit, giving the album different dimensions, textures, and ambitions. With songs leaning more toward the sci-fi and occult, leaving the listener surprised and not knowing what to expect adds a wonderful sense of uneasiness that remains even upon subsequent spins. Oddly enough, the dazzling and alien cover art works quite well at describing the sound of the metal contained within; spaces between aren't really empty, connections head where they're not expected, and this spacey/star mix is really quite cerebral. That's not to say it's unwieldy or untouchable, not by a longshot. Telluric Sepsis is readily accessible, delightfully digestible, and supremely shredworthy.
Nogothula's debut is a welcome slab of heavy, engaging, and swirling death metal, both playing to their inspirations as well as reaching forward, not content to stand in one place. And no one could blame them, either. Considering the state of affairs on this planet for the past half millenium plus, one can see that the telluric sepsis is and was caused by us, so one must acknowledge the past to move to a different future. Following the expected, established path will only lead in circles, ever swirling toward demise. Sad and bleak, yes, but at least we got a really ripping album out of it in Telluric Sepsis    Paul Casey
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