Sombre Records, 2003
Genre: Black Metal
Apolokia:
1. Acherontis Avari
Inferno:
2. Hrdi a silni
3. Sjednoceni viron
Side Inferno: here
Side Apolokia:
It's been a couple years since we've heard from Apolokia and their latest movement comes two years after their last split with Dark Storm. As before this is a Sombre Records release, this time on 7" and limited to 500 copies. I don't see any hand-numbering on my copy, so I guess they didn't hand number all their releases.
This material came out about the same time as Katharsis' "Kruzifixxion" album, so the material isn't too far off from there. As I mentioned in the last review this project is closely related, however it isn't nearly as chaotic. "Kruzifixxion" is one of Katharsis' most chaotic efforts, so this Apolokia song stands pretty far removed from that. Which works out well because even though it has that Katharsis tone, it doesn't have that Katharsis atmosphere, so it's nice to hear a whole new spin on this.
Unfortunately, this is the last we heard from the project. Perhaps the two members couldn't find the time to work together, or M.K. just decided to focus more on Katharsis. Either way, this project has been put to rest and it's kind of a shame we never got a proper full-length out of it, because the music was pretty good.
Sombre Records, 2001
Genre: Black Metal
Apolokia: In Ceremonial Circles
1. Infinite Warscream
2. Cemetary Shrines
3. Thy Eye and Claw of Evil
4. In Ceremonial Circles
Dark Storm: Kult Satan
5. Kult Satan
6. Infernal Desecration
7. Eternal Flame of Hell
8. Thy Unholy Light
9. In the Sign of Blasphemy
Side Dark Storm: here
Side Apolokia:
Being a fairly big Katharsis fan I somehow missed out on Apolokia and instead I got into them through the bands they did splits with. Their first 4-way split that came out before this one is something I'm missing, but someday I might track it down. Their original demo tape, I'm not so optimistic about, so my reviews really begin here. While I was reviewing Dark Storm these tracks happened to come on and I was really into them, so here we are. This is a 12" LP and is limited to 350 copies.
Basically, if you like Katharsis you will certainly enjoy Apolokia as the projects are quite similar. Apolokia is M.K. on guitar and drums with vocalist/bassist Azazel. I didn't realize M.K. also played guitar, but in Katharsis I think all he plays is drums. Either way, the Katharsis style is certainly strong in his writing style and you can hear that from the very start of "Infinite Warscream". The major difference is that his music doesn't seem as intensely chaotic as Katharsis usually is. So, it's not exactly a Katharsis clone, it just sounds quite similar. I'm sure they're recorded in the same Katharsis studio, which gives the production quality the exact same treatment, which works very well for this material. The only major off-putting aspect is that sometimes the material feels pretty messy in it's writing and performance. As if the songs weren't practiced very often, but just enough to do a recording. Despite that the material is still good with slightly less chaotic styled Katharsis riffing and generates that awesomely hateful atmosphere the project is known for. So, if you're a Katharsis fan you should also become a fan of Apolokia!
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