For quite some time now, but arguably in the last few years especially, Transcending Obscurity Records has been one of the most consistently excellent champions for new, exciting and often innovative extreme metal acts, both in quality and in the sheer volume of their releases.

Therefore, it is no surprise that they are out of the gates already in 2024, presenting the debut of Portugal’s Saevus Finis, a band both shrouded in mystique and with a sound that matches. Almost instantly barraging, Facilis Descensus Averno leaves no time to showcase its unapologetically bleak atmosphere and dissident sound.

Facilis Descensus Averno is a largely dissident experience, especially on first listen, however it isn’t entirely inscrutable; in fact, further listens reveal surprisingly memorable aspects: the album opener ‘Scourge Of Humanity’ gives these characteristics off in no uncertain terms with a frenzied pace for its entirety.

The likes of ‘Unfulfillment’ offer doomier passages which are striking amongst the more aggressive aspects and heightens these opposites as a result. This counteraction is certainly one of the album’s great strengths, with such desolate passages veering with angular and unpredictable riffing with a tone that conjures the alien and the unknown to a terrifying effect. 

Facilis Descensus Averno is a multi-faceted collection in several ways and is all the more captivating as a result. A sound that effortlessly veers between paces and tones in a way that makes this challenging and jarring on the surface but not so much that it is impregnable. 

What those not immediately put off will find a hugely worthwhile collection with a hugely potent and gripping atmosphere throughout. Exactly a case in point as to why Transcending Obscurity releases are not to be slept on.

Buy the album here:
https://saevusfinis.bandcamp.com/album/facilis-descensus-averno

7 / 10
CHRIS TIPPELL