Every single time that Christos Antoniou settles down to write a new piece of music, one thing is certain: he tends to go even further than the last time. Septic Flesh might be a little bit heavy for my taste and I am not really an expert on their music but what I gather from his sophomore effort with Chaostar absolutely verifies my sentiments.
A great asset here is provided by the presence of mezzo soprano Androniki Skoula as the compositions are structured for her voice thus the result is extraordinary and gratifying although kinda experimental yet familiar sounding (especially after a couple of listening sessions).
“The Undivided Light” is definitely not the easiest and most “digestible” thing that a metal fan can listen to but it eventually wins you over due to its sheer atmosphere and Androniki’s theatrical performance. This time around, we are not in the center of the darkness (as it was the case with “Anonima”) but the middle-eastern sound accompanied with plenty of (mostly string) instruments. The sole constant though is the avant-garde atmosphere of the record. We should also point down out that there are a few special guests with George Emmanue of the Rotting Christ fame being the most interesting one.
I can’t really imagine just how far Antoniou’s inspiration will go but for the time being I fully enjoy this album and I wholeheartedly recommend it to the fans of the atmospheric metal genre. Hope to see them on their own stage soon…
