...As Death Gives Way To Victory...
Golgotha, 1st Movement
Spiritual Euphoria
Feast of Flesh and Blood
Golgotha, 2nd Movement
Hope Left To Die
Distant Promise (Everlasting Life Mix)
Forseen Cunnundrum
The End of The Physical
Distant Promise (Original Version)
Lessons of Faith
Transcendent of The Flesh

That age old fear that has haunted man for centuries is celebrated through this second release by Darin M Sullivan (Order of Melchizedek). The big ‘D’. Death. The total end of a persons existence or merely the beginning of a bigger journey… depending on your faith and beliefs. A subject that has been written and sung about since communication first came into being. If you’ve ever seen a National Geographic magazine you’ll have seen paint daubed on cave walls by primitive man celebrating / fearing this final demise. Not exactly a bundle of laughs then for a subject but one which, as we all advance in years, we know will eventually occur. When I was in my early twenties I felt immortal. Now nearing my fifties it’s a subject that I reflect on more and more. Fuck!! I’m getting depressed just writing this stuff.

Following on from the excellent, minus the religious piffle, that was "Domine Ex Audi Vocem Meam Domine" [read review here], "As death gives way to victory" studies the concept of death, dying and the shredding of the physical cell that traps our soul. If you believe in such stuff. Dedicated to the memory of three departed people that had an impact on the artist this is a 12 track release that attempts, through a mixture of melancholy melodic passages and disturbing experimental dark ambience, to show that the big ‘D’ is nothing to fear. That final release, although coming with a price, doesn’t have to be the end. Or have I read into this all wrong? Hard to say. I’m trying to understand it through the artists point of view which goes against every grain in my body. In being subjective maybe it’s gone way over my head. As you would expect from such an ambitious and serious imagining the music is very haunting and ethereal crossed with terrifying fear inducing moments. The use of drum rolls in parts sounds akin to a heart pumping out the life’s blood for the very last time. A funeral dirge effect prevails, with even the lighter moments tinged with sadness, with the darker ambience reflecting our deepest innermost fears.

All in all a very personal and thought provoking release that has so much going for it. A touch frothy in places (no bad thing as it so happens) with enough black passages to appeal to the more morbid ones amongst you. Perhaps, due to the subject matter, this won’t appeal to everyone’s tastes but to those of us at a certain age it strikes a chord which we don’t want to confront. Reality is a bitch. Don’t fear the reaper. I’d rather not meet the fucker in the first place thank you very much. Listening to "As death gives way to victory" only strengthens that view. Partner it with "Serenade for the Dead" by Leaether Strip, a lesser release by a mile, and you have a frightening musical vision of the ultimate end.

ANM