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Having always discarded conventional black metal formulas, Ireland’s Altar of Plagues delve further into musical experimentation on their latest album, ‘Teethed Glory and Injury’. The most appealing aspect of this band is that they always demonstrated a remarkable ability to manipulate distinct sounds and movements to create a truly ominous and disturbing atmosphere, without ever sounding contrived. So as expected, these new songs still sound incredibly intricate and complex, undulating from fierce, gritty blackened metal to gloomy, electronic ambiences. Several industrial, urban-sounding layers give the record an eerie tone, creating an atmosphere that emanates a sense of horror and fear. The opening instrumental 'Mills' really summons that creepy ambience by incorporating some noisy distortion intertwined with sinister drone sounds. The intro paves way for the vitriolic sting that is 'God Alone' where Altar of Plagues unleashes some repetitive, gritty riffing along with the anguished screams of Dave Condon in just less than five minutes, which is really a novelty for them. Gone are the exceedingly long songs of yore as now the group adopts more succinct ways to convey their singular musical vision, and this new approach really works in their favour and add more character to the songs. As a result, ‘Teethed Glory and Injury’ possesses a certain consistency and flow that has never quite graced their previous works. Although this album is undeniably subterranean and challenging, I could say that a lot of the tracks possess a sinister catchiness that seeps deeper into the cortex with each listen.
With that said, grab your headphones, turn down the lights and let the music take you over. It doesn’t get darker and sinister than this. 

Band info: www.facebook.com/altarofplagues
Label info: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

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