Akem Manah: Demons of the Sabbat

This album, originally self released in 2014, never found much of an audience. Nearly two years later, Possession Productions releases it again, hoping the record will find an audience. It should; the music is worth hearing. Dark and foreboding, it creates the right atmosphere for the occult-inspired lyrics. The band features two known players, Ivan De Prume (ex-White Zombie) on the drums and Chris Lollis (one of Nile's former bassists) on the bass. Playing the guitar and singing is Dead Nedry, also the band's founder. Akem Manah is not White Zombie or Nile and I won't force a comparison. However, the music here lacks the romp of the former and the fire of the latter. This is partly due to differences in genre. Akem Manah is creating necrotic metal, music meant to evoke ritual spaces and evil deeds. Other bands have trodden these areas and this band doesn't break any new ground. Still, the band generally sounds good, especially during instrumental tracks like "Unholy Horror" or during long instrumental stretches. Such passages allow each musician a chance to relish in the arcane feel through the ebb and flow of sound and silence. The music is tight and controlled, a good offering of doom and power. I was less impressed with the vocals, even though they grew on me over the course of the album. The vocals on "Worship in Fire," however, sounded relatively weak; the track itself is generally sluggish and does not show the band at its best. I recommend tracks like "Unholy Horror" and "Hollow Graves." "Reign of Terror" was also pretty good. I'm glad that this album gets a second chance at life, but I don't think it will smash any sales records.

Track Listing:
1. Dark Ritual
2. Worship in Fire
3. Reign of Terror
4. Possession of Nun
5. Hollow Graves
6. Unholy Horror
7. The Twisted Rites of Satan's Bride
8. Nightfall
9. Demons rise

Added: March 18th 2016
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Bandcamp Page
Hits: 1574
Language: english

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