Antaeus - Blood Libels

This summer I went through a serious Norma Evangelium Diaboli phase, and Blood Libels was one of the gems I picked up along the way. I found it at Relapse on South St., and the art was what really grabbed my attention. I mean NED always do an excellent job on the artwork and packaging, but Blood Libels is really perfect. The album starts like some kind of ancient behemoth, slowly building momentum. I mean, this happens in the first minute or so of Rot, right before it explodes into blastbeats and minor chord shredding. Occasionally the gears and circuits show up again, in the temporary lull found during songs like Control and Abuse and Words as Weapons. Like most NED releases, this album is consistently engrossing/terrifying until the end. It's so dense at times, that the music is almost impenetrable, but Blood Libels rewards with repeated listens. If I had to pick a favorite song, I'd be stuck between the opener Rot and the final track, Blood Libels