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The Throes of Scourge


REVIEW BY THE LEGION OF TCHORT ZINE (JUNE 2018) (English and Portuguese)

Phidion "The Throes of Scourge". Coming from Sweden showing their powerful Death / Thrash Metal approaching in their thematic Life, Death, Metaphorical, Sci-Fi, Horror. Very competent this album "The Throes of Scourge" excellent work of drums, guitar very well played and the bass completing its sonority giving all the weight to the songs.

The album opens with the track "Swarming Spectres" with riffs made to beat head and soon it comes to all the brutality of the track, great works of guitars, the other tracks of the album ... "Anthropophagus", "Mother Pestilence", "Lost Transmission", "Dereks Do not Run, "The Empty Chapel", "Assailant of the Weak", "Slaves to Eternal Insomnia, "Nackt und zerfleischt", and closing the album "Insect Mastery". a line of sound that sums up all the brutality of Phidion in 40 minutes of extreme tracks that counts in his line-up Christos Chatzikonstandinos (Guitars, Bass, Songwriting), Oliver Palmquist (Vocals, Lyrics), Peter Pettersson (Drums, Songwriting track 3) Sweden shows that they do not create just traditional death metal bands, Phidion is an example of how to mix death thrash in the best of style.

Phidion “The Throes of Scourge”. Vinda da Suécia mostrando seu poderoso Death/Thrash Metal abordando em suas tematicas Life, Death, Metaphorical, Sci-Fi, Horror. Muito competente esse album "The Throes of Scourge" excelente trabalho de bateria guitarras muito bem tocadas e o baixo completando sua sonoridade dando todo o peso para as musicas.

O album abre com a faixa "Swarming Spectres" com riffs feitos para bater cabeça e logo em seguida vem a toda a brutalidade da faixa, otimo trabalhos de guitarras, as demais faixas do album... "Anthropophagus", "Mother Pestilence, "Lost Transmission, "Dereks Don't Run, "The Empty Chapel", "Assailant of the Weak, "Slaves to Eternal Insomnia", "Nackt und zerfleischt" e fechando o album "Insect Mastery" (outra pancada brutal e muito bem composta). uma linha de som que resume toda a brutalidade do Phidion em 40 minutos de de faixas extremas que conta em seu line-up Christos Chatzikonstandinos (Guitars, Bass, Songwriting), Oliver Palmquist (Vocals, Lyrics), Peter Pettersson (Drums, Songwriting (track 3). A Suécia mostra que não criam só bandas de death metal tradicional, o Phidion é um exemplo de como misturar death thrash no melhor do estilo.

Source: The Legion of Tchort Zine


REVIEW BY MUSIPEDIA OF METAL (DECEMBER 2017)

Formed in 2003, Phidion’s debut album follows several demos and EPs released over the years. A steady line-up which comprises Christos Chatzikonstandinos on guitar, Oliver Palmquist on vocals. Peter Pettersson on drums and bassist Olaf Landin has helped and the Swedes have delivered a ferocious release which takes no prisoners. Strong drumming, cascading riffs and guttural vocals, the mainstays of any self-respecting death metal outfit are all here in abundance but in addition there is a power and pace which is too often missing.

Anthropophagus changes several times, massive chunks of stomping power segueing comfortably into the more frantic assault. Similarly, the haunting tomb of Mother Pestilence batters relentlessly at times whilst slowing to match the tolling bell whilst the brooding Slaves To Eternal Insomnia (aren’t we all) just crushes. Intricate and technical playing enhances the release with the drumming at full throttle and Chatzikonstandinos adding some mean fretwork. Phidion are a decent addition to the already bursting death metal scene. 7/10

Source: Musipedia of Metal


RECENSION AV SLAVESTATE.SE (OCTOBER 3, 2017)

Phidion - "The throes of scourge"
(Egen utgivning) § § § §

Stockholmsbaserade dödsgänget Phidion har funnits sedan 2003. Med ett gäng demos och singlar i bagaget kommer nu debutfullängdaren "The Throes of Scourge".

Plattan bjussar på tio låtar som klockar strax under 40 minuter. Influenserna är många och bandet lyckas skapa en egen identitet istället för att låta som ett rip-off band. I grytan kokas det huvudsakligen 90-talsdöds, med smak av thrash metal och en gnutta tidigt Göteborgssound. Även band som Necrophobic och Hypocrisy uppenbarar sig. Ett plus är variationen på growlet som friskt varvas med skriksång vilket ger extra punch på snabba partier.

Bandet har lyckats med både låtsnickeri, maffig produktion och variation. Tvåtaktslarmet i "Anthropophagus", blastet i "Insect Mastery" och domedagstunga "The Empty Chapel" är några av flera höjdpunkter på plattan. Det är nog bara en tidsfråga innan bandet får napp av ett skivbolag.

Recenserad av Martin Schönherr, SLAVESTATE.SE


REVIEW BY ANGELUS MORTEM (JULY 31, 2017)

In a world of incredibly talented metal artists, many sadly go unnoticed and become forgotten or don't get nearly as much support as they deserve. With just some more money and exposure, these bands could of became the next Metallica for all we know, but they faded away. Some are re-discovered later as "gems", and sometimes even get their stuff repressed, but wouldn't it be nice if some of those bands were still active? We as fans have a job to do, and that is to spread heavy metal music across the globe and broadcast the artists and bands that deserve it. Their music cannot fade away into the endless void of oblivion. We have to do it for bands such as Phidion.

Phidion is in a pretty impressive project considering what they have been able to do without much support from any labels. They're an unsigned, Swedish death/thrash metal band that have been kicking it since as early as 2003, but only released their debut this year on May 29th, titled The Throes of Scourge. Prior to that, we got releases like their 2012 EP Flesh For The Forsaken, and their live album Ten Years of Eternal Insomnia – Live at Rocks in 2014.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Phidion comes out with a single CD with three songs and alternative artwork to their album. The single sounded great, and at this point everyone was shitting themselves for the new Phidion album (well, we definitely were anyway). It's taken a long time for these guys to come full circle and finally release a record, but man was it worth the wait.

The Throes of Scourge is a perfect blend of thrash and death metal, and Phidion knows how to combine an ominous atmosphere along with some great groove and awesome riffs. This isn't really a record that's trying to be really fast or brutal, it's more focused on explaining what's going on in the lyrics. Each song is performed exceptionally well and feels like a soundtrack to what it's describing. There's a lot of variety, from straight-forward thrash, some melodic segments, death metal chugging, and brutal high vocals coming from vocalist Oliver Palmquist mixed in with equally crushing lows backing him up.

One the albums heaviest hitters would have to be "Derek's Don't Run", which starts off right with a great death metal groove, and then just goes pure thrash towards the end. The playing isn't overly technical, flashy, or trying to be more than it is. Phidion integrates various sounds to make the album unique, and seriously really nailed it with the instrumentation.

Another cool thing about the album is that it switches between fast parts and slower parts quite often in a handful of songs, while still keeping the same dark and heavy vibes going. A song will go from sounding like a cross between Slayer and Carcass and then move into a slower, foreboding interlude. These segments complement the rest of the song pretty well, and a song that demonstrates this really well is "Anthropophagus", which is a song about a killer delving into their sick fantasies without any remorse. The way the song is written, it feels as if listeners are being taken into the killer's mind, but instead of finding focused rage and misanthropy towards the human race, they find complete lunacy and happiness in what he's doing.

And speaking of good lyrics, there's some solid writing going on here too. It's not groundbreaking, but on songs like "Lost Transmission" or "The Empty Chapel", the lyrics come off as pretty menacing and vicious. "The Empty Chapel" paints a picture of humanity pleading to a higher power in desperation to vanquish the violence and despair going on in their lives, only to hopelessly hear nothing at all in return. The closing line where it says: "A silent refuge – a mirage of mind, A believer abandoned ,When trust in god dies" is so fucking good, man. "Lost Transmission" describes someone who is dying in some sort of accident, and takes you inside their head as they feel their demise approaching. It's good that Phidion takes their songwriting seriously and don't try so hard to be as edgy as possible. The lyrics on The Throes of Scourge are grim, but realistic, and when you've created a serious work of art that people can also lose their shit to at concerts and have fun, that takes some talent.

If you're a fan of death/thrash, realistic lyricism, and some seriously talented musicians playing some awesome metal music, we'd recommend this one to you. Phidion hopefully will start releasing more extensive material, as this album demonstrates clearly that there is much more in their arsenal. These guys like to play around and experiment with odd riffs and time signatures, and there's really no telling what's in store for the future but at least we know it will be great.

Score: 8.5/10


REVIEW BY BLOODROCK MEDIA (JULY 13, 2017)

Swedish thrasher band Phidion's debut album has been on quite the journey to achieve conception, with the original lineup scattering to the winds in 2012 after just 2 EPs. However, after regrouping and rebuilding, Guitarist Christos Chatzikonstandinos began crafting what would be the Phidion we see today and revitalizing fandom with their first full length album The Throes of Scourge.

Channeling the energies of bands like Morbid Angel, Behemoth or Deicide, The Throes of Scourge blends thrash, black metal and some elements of punk into high energy, up-tempo, made for moshing jams. Phidion crafts some straightforward heavy as hell headbanging tracks. There are not a lot of bells and whistles here; just gravelly vocals, shredding riffs and thunderous drums. One notable thing is the band's absence of a second guitarist which is usually pretty standard in the genre, however that is to their credit, displaying just how tight the bass and guitar riffs lace together eliminating the need for a rhythm guitarist. Check tracks like "Anthropophagus", "Lost Transmission" and "Insect Mastery" for prime examples of dope shredding and air tight breakdowns. Even the tracks like "The Empty Chapel" with slower build ups/tempos flex some diversity muscle and show how well the quartet performs as a unit.

The only real criticisms I had with this album was the ordering of the tracks. Many of the songs, despite sounding unique in most ways, do have similar time signatures so some of the tracks tend to spill over onto each other rather than smoothly transition from one song to the next. It's a minor thing really but becomes very noticeable when the opposite occurs such as when "Dereks Don't Run" slides smooth as glass into "The Empty Chapel," then again when it flows into "Assailant of the Weak". Again, it isn't anything big enough to take away from the overall quality of the album but it is a bit distracting at times. It just makes you wonder why the rest of the album wasn't structured in such a way as to better highlight the individual strengths of each track. Other than that though, The Throes of Scourge is a damn good debut. Plus in the era of EPs it's refreshing when a band drops a full length that doesn't make you wish it was an EP.

Bloodrock Rating: 3.5 outta 5.0 axes

Written by Ken Kaizer for Bloodrock Media on July 13, 2017


REVIEW BY DEATHDOOM.COM (JUNE 14, 2017)

Phidion is a local Stockholm death metal band that's been around for quite some time. "The Throes of Scourge" is their debut album, and includes a few re-recorded songs from "Flesh of the Forsaken" as well as a bunch of new tunes. Their style is a very aggressive mix of death metal and thrash metal.

Intensity of the Phidion live show, finally on tape

While Phidion has been delivering energetic live gigs for a long time, there hasn't been an opportunity to hear their songs in a proper production environment. On this release, the band's material finally gets the sound it deserves. It's nothing fancy, but it's a high quality metal production that brings out the sound that the band produces live.

It's hard to pinpoint any strongly similar bands, but the riffing has an American death metal influence. A thrash metal influence is particularly showing in the older re-recorded songs. The band is mostly in high gear, and the songwriting has a functional catchiness to it. Not that many twists and turns, but many of the songs have memorable hooks. The catchy, and often semi-technical guitar riffs are the highlight, but the rhythm section puts in a solid performance as well.

"Mother Pestilence", the single that was previously released on YouTube is a highlight, as well as re-recorded live staples "Anthropophagous" and "Slaves to Eternal Insomnia". The overall quality of the tracklist is good, and the album's running time is fitting for the intense music style.

Machine gun vocal delivery

Vocalist Ollie's thrash metal background often means an aggressive machine gun approach, but there are also pure death metal moments that give enough variation to last for the album's running time. It's an honest performance that sounds much like how he delivers on a live stage. A solid match for the intensity of the music.

You hear what you get

Much like in a live environment, Phidion's strength is their stubborn energy and aggression. This is both the band's greatest asset and its weakness. Atmospheric moments aside, this isn't a varied album that warrants many re-listens. The aggression and honesty of the performance still makes it well worth checking out for fans of death metal and the more extreme side of thrash metal.

Written by Stefan Nordström


SKULL FRACTURING METAL (JUNE 4, 2017)

After many years without a full-length, Swedish death metal group Phidion has finally unleashed their first studio record, entitled "The Throes of Scourge". Sweden's history with death metal is interesting because there are two very distinctive sounds coming from it. The old-school bands like Entombed, Dismember, and others are of course famed for their HM-2 crunch, yet the bands that came just a few years later created the classic Gothenburg melothrash sound. Bands in 2017 often cling to one side or another, but Phidion manages to incorporate elements of both successfully. In general, they lean much more towards the old-school death metal side of things, with an eternally heavy guitar tone, yet there's a certain catchiness to their riffs that brings memories of bands like Dark Tranquillity.

Phidion's ability to diversify their sound a little bit keeps "The Throes of Scourge" a compelling listen throughout. Tracks like "Swarming Spectres" and "Dereks Don't Run" almost have a bounciness to them, amidst a flurry of blast beats and tremolo-picking. The band doesn't ever get too technical (true to the Swedish sound), but there are some slightly busier riffs in a track like "Anthropophagus". A lot of the time when Phidion isn't using tremolo-picking, however, they opt for heavily muted, chunky power chords.

"The Throes of Scourge" does many things well, and there are few faults to it. I've always been more partial to the Floridian style of death metal, so Phidion's strengths don't necessarily line up with my tastes, but that doesn't make this a bad release at all. It's faithful to the genre's forefathers without being a direct ripoff or clone, and the result is something that should appeal to most fans of old-school death metal. The slight nods to more melodeath sounds often come through the thrashiness of certain riffs, and if you're into old-school death metal, you probably have a good background in thrash, so those riffs will definitely be appreciated. All in all, "The Throes of Scourge" is a very solid effort that will be appreciated by most death metal fans!

Be sure to check out and like Phidion on Facebook!

Highlights
"Swarming Spectres"
"Anthropophagus"
"Dereks Don't Run"

Final Rating 3.8/5 or 76%.

Written by Scott

Source: Skull Fracturing Metal


BRUTAL VIEW (MAY 28, 2017) in Greek

Oι κυκλοφορίες λοιπόν το τελευταίο διάστημα είναι τόσες πολλές που πραγματικά κάποιες φορές κολλάει ο εγκέφαλος και δεν ξέρεις τι να γράψεις και πως να ξεκινήσεις. Ειδικά όταν είναι και καλές κιόλας εκεί πια χάνεται η μπάλα και τα κοσμητικά επίθετα που πρέπει να βάλεις.

Αυτό ακριβώς έπαθα και με τους φίλους απο την Σουηδία με το ελληνικό »άρωμα» ονόματι Phidion. Mπάντα απο το 2003, με πρώτη κυκλοφορία (πέρα απο τα πρώτα demos) το 2012, το ΕΡ »Flesh of the Forsaken» για να ακολουθήσουν ένα live, ένα video και 2 singles τα οποία και μας οδήγησαν στον πρώτο τους δίσκο, »The Throes of Scourge» που κυκλοφορεί απ τους ίδιους αύριο 29 του μήνα. Το οποίο ντεμπουτο τους προς μεγάλη μας χαρά πριν λίγο καιρό μας έστειλαν εδώ στο Brutalview.gr σε ψηφιακή μορφή για να το παρουσιάσουμε και φυσικά δεχτήκαμε με κάθε προθυμία.

Εδώ λοιπόν έχουμε να κάνουμε με ενα μείγμα απο death/thrash/black επιρροές με κάθε μια να παίρνει τον πρωταγωνιστικό ρόλο σε κάθε κομμάτι. Οι κιθάρες είναι αρκετά κοφτερές και ταχύτατες, καλοδουλεμένες και με ριφφ σωστά δομημένα. Σε αρκετά σημεία γίνονται και mid-tempo αλλά στην πλειοψηφία τους »τρέχουν» αρκετά. Τα ντραμς είναι κι αυτά με πολύ καλό ήχο, δυνατά και στιβαρά και χτίζουν πολύ δυνατό rhythm section άλλες φορές με γρήγορες δίκασες και blastbeat ξεσπάσματα κι άλλοτε με σταθερά ρυθμικά κρατήματα. Το μπάσο δεν είναι ιδαίτερα ευδιάκριτο (χωρίς να φοβάται σε κάποια σημεία να βγαίνει μπροστά) αλλά νιώθεις το βάρος του. Δεν φοβούνται σε σημεία να χρησιμοποιήσουν και μελωδίες (τι σόι σουηδική μπάντα θα ήταν αν δεν έβαζαν;) αλλά με τρόπο που να καλύπτουν την επιθετικότητα και την καφρίλα.

Στα φωνητικά έχουμε εναλλαγή απο pitched σε growls και τούμπαλιν πράγμα που με πήγε πολύ στο στυλ του Henri Satler των God Dethroned. Δένουν πολύ καλά με το όλο στυλ της μπάντας. Η παραγωγή και η μίξη είναι σε πολύ καλά επίπεδα.

Το όλο ύφος του δίσκου δεν κουράζει και είναι άνετο στην ακρόαση χωρίς να »προχωράς» τα κομμάτια εκτός απο κανα δυο προς την μέση του δίσκου που είναι λίγο μονότονα. Η διάρκεια στα 40 λεπτά οπότε τα περισσότερα κομμάτια κυλάνε εύκολα. Η ικανότητα στην σύνθεση των κομματιών είναι μια σπουδαία παράμετρος που πρέπει να διαθέτει ανελλιπώς ένας μουσικός σε μια σοβαρή μπάντα και απ ότι φαίνεται οι φίλοι μας απ την Σουηδία την διαθέτουν επαρκώς. Καταφέρνουν να ακούγονται αρκετά επιθετικοί και βάρβαροι χωρίς να καταντάνε ανιαροί και βαρετοί πλην λίγων περιπτώσεων. Έχουν τα φόντα και τις ικανότητες για να εξελιχθούν σε κάτι πολύ δυνατό. Πολύ καλή δουλειά και στο εξώφυλλο επίσης.

Εν τέλει σαν πρώτος δίσκος είναι αρκετά καλός, καλοστημένος, και με γερές βάσεις. Η μπάντα έχει όλα τα εχέγγυα για να συνεχίσει μέ θάρρος στον σκληρό ανταγωνισμό και τα επόμενα βήματα να φέρουν ακόμα πιο δυνατούς δίσκους. Οι βάσεις έχουν μπεί και σίγουρα μέσα απ την καλλιέργεια του ταλέντου που φαίνεται οτι το διαθέτουν μπόλικο οι φίλοι μας, (και ειδικά ο κιθαρίστας-συμπατριώτης μας Χρήστος) θα έρθει και το πολύ καλό επόμενο αλμπουμ.

Ως εκ τουτου…

Βαθμολογία: 7/10