Sanctophoby are a very productive solo-outfit of Andrius ‘Blasphemathor’ Ataraskevicius from Lithuania, whom you might know from his former collaboration with Binan Ath or Moonrise. In the past Andrius released several demonstrational recordings, and with Sanctophoby he contributed on several splits with the likes of Sexblasphemy, Mincer Serenades and Blackhorns. And sweet Lithuanian label Volcanic Slut Records has released a two-track 7”EP, which came to life with session assistance of Kommander L., the guy behind Luctus or Fuck Off And Die !, and formerly also in Moonrise, just like Andrius.
It’s not new, Sanctophoby bringing pretty lengthy tracks, and with this EP too it’s the case. Malicious Call and Xрам Древнего Зла last for respectively 8:09 and 7:13 minutes, and they go on in the nasty, mostly un-pretty vein of most former material. It stands for a mostly barbaric and bestial kind of Black Metal, with a very dark atmosphere, almost perverse, and a thrashing undertone in execution. The straight-forward performance comes with lots of changes in tempo, and the intro and outro (by higher mentioned Kommander L.) cover the whole in a ritual veil, and the Doom-passages even strengthen the ominous, funereal atmosphere.
The mix is not that satisfying, for the rhythm guitars and bass lines are way too absent. In general this lo-fi approach does not disappoint (cf. it’s the correct way to express this kind of Black Beauty), but it could have been done little more ‘fat’ and balanced to lift the result up to a higher level.
The EP comes in an edition of 333 copies only; you’ve been warned…