Review: Panegyrist – Hierurgy

Style: black (mixed vocals)
Review by: Quintessence
Country: US-IL
Release date: 18-05-2018

NOTE: This album was originally included in the 2018 missed albums issue of The Progressive Subway

Today, we jump into Hierurgy, the debut album from Panegyrist – a Progressive Black Metal band lacking in convention, but filled to the brim with a regal and triumphant; and, most importantly, a cohesive sound. “Kvlt” is often a term thrown around in black metal – but “kvlt” this is not. Hierurgy offers a spiritual focus on lyrics, prominent keyboard that seems influenced from Arcturus with regards to its execution, and heavy use of clean vocals that could be placed seamlessly onto a Blind Guardian track.

Hymn of Inversion – the intro song, very much sets the scene for what’s to come. It’s a powerful little showcase of harmonies by the band’s clean vocalist, Elijah Tamu, backed up with a repeated pattern on the keys. But this does not last long – kicking off with another strong vocal performance, Idylls of the Cave bursts into action, quickly introducing the typical tremolo riffing and blast-beats one might expect from black metal. The band’s two vocalists swap in and out as the track goes on, peaking with a powerful bridge followed by an excellent riff.

To Quicken Stone begins with an ominous clean guitar part that quickly goes in a totally different direction. Some excellent bass parts rumble beneath some of the riffing that lasts throughout the song. A layer of ominous keyboards really helps convey an atmosphere of doubt – almost – is this the same album that Idylls of the Cave was just on? The song takes many twists and turns in its near ten minute length, despite not diverging massively on the riffing. The highlight comes with some macabre sounding, effects laden guitar trickery played over a great bassline, with some whispered vocals eventually entering the mix. And then out of nowhere – more tremolo – a very abrupt change in tone indeed. One that took me out of the song a fair amount, if I’m entirely honest. A smoother transition would have worked wonders here, I feel.

The Void is the Heart of the Flame is the shortest track on the album, and one I feel doesn’t really achieve much for its length. I don’t really have a lot to say about it. It’s not bad by any means; it’s just sort of… there. Ophidian Crucifix, meanwhile, is my favorite song on the album – it brings some of the darkest clean vocals yet, some very tasteful bass playing and a couple of really well executed guitar solos. One of the highlights of the album, for me, it really showcases what the band’s all about.

The album’s climax – the title track, Hierurgy, is not without flaws. It feels a tad bloated in places and ends in a relatively abrupt fashion, but is potentially the most “epic” of the tracks – boasting some nifty time signature changes and some drum fills that certainly satiate any hunger for interesting black metal drumming. This track also contains some excellent harsh vocals – I should point out that this album is filled with some nice harsh vocal moments, but with the exception of this track they’re often overshadowed by the clean vocal performances. Much less emphasis is given to them throughout the record than on this particular song.

So, overall, there’s a lot to love about Hierurgy. Blistering tremolo meets a vocal performance that fans of prog power would utterly adore. Among all the praise for the music itself, the album also boasts clean and crisp production – absolutely no complaints about the mix. If you’re an audiophile looking for a black metal album to spin, this is probably a good shout. If you’re a fan of black metal and you’re looking for something different, this is absolutely worth a spin or two. If you’re an Arcturus fan, give this a spin or two hundred – this is definitely up your street. If you wake up every morning bathed in corpse paint, however, you may find this one harder to appreciate (also, make sure you’re taking care of your skin, skin care is important).

Recommended tracks: Idylls of the Cave, Ophidian Crucifix
Recommended for fans of: Arcturus, Blind Guardian
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page

Label: I, Voidhanger records – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook

Panegyrist is:
– Elijah Tamu (vocals, guitars)
– Brendan Maine (guitars)
– Vincent Ippolito (guitars)
– Paul Moore (bass)
– David Cramer (keyboards)