Full Album Stream: Avichi: Catharsis Absolute – new album

So who is this AVICHI, also known as Andrew Markuszewski, as well as LORD MANTIS' and NACHTMYSTIUM's guitarist and vocalist? We could let his music speak for him, but, as it turns out, he is a man of many gifts – including the gift of gab. For the complete picture, do visit here (Steel For Brains) and read the insightful interview/“exploration of the brain behind the noise” Steel For Brains conducted with the man. AVICHI's third full-length is out now, January the 21st, 2014, on Profound Lore Records. Entitled ‘Catharsis Absolute’, the album is depicted as Andrew Markuszewski's (some of you may know him as “Aamonael”) mightiest album in the AVICHI repertoire to date:

“ ‘Catharsis Absolute’ is a vicious, furious, yet moving black metal album that will define Markuszewski as one of the scene's most prominent visionaries. Taking the sound he formulated with his ‘Divine Tragedy’ debut [2007] and ‘The Devil's Fractal’ follow-up [2011], ‘Catharsis Absolute’ is a glorious culmination of Aamonael's musical oeuvre, resulting in his singular vision unparalleled.”

And they are not just saying it, the label I mean. Listen to ‘Catharsis Absolute’ in its vicious-yet-moving entirety below, and you’ll feel compelled to buy it here (Profound Lore store) or here (BandCamp). Recorded with THE ATLAS MOTH's Andrew Ragin at Wall To Wall studios and mixed by Sanford Parker, the album's impressive art was created by Peter Kenar (aka Zmij) with a layout assembled by Chimere Noire (“The actual physical construct which was shot is of nephilic proportions. The demonic head itself is about ten times the size of a human skull,” [explained Markuszewski] “I am a great admirer of his [Peter Kenar's] vision and share a kinship to his works. Some of the older generations of my family had a knack for sculpture as well which also serves my appreciation for it. Both of us are of Polish ancestry. Piotr also introduced me to ‘Blood Fire Death’ by BATHORY a long long time ago…”):

AVICHI (“it may sound like an exotic Italian topping for your pizza,” argues Eduardo Rivadavia, AllMusic – more here) is the personal recording medium for multi-instrumentalist, song writer, recording artist, music engineer, and producer Andrew Markuszewski. Formed in 2006, AVICHI's debut album, ‘The Divine Tragedy’, only hinted (Eduardo Rivadavia describes it as a “well-heeled bid for eventual admittance into the club”) at what the project was about to offer on AVICHI's Profound Lore debut, 2011's ‘The Devil's Fractal’:

“ ‘The Divine Tragedy’ takes a muscular framework and unbridled aggression, and then integrates an intelligent form of arrangement that is rife with menacing atmospherics and progressive leanings. The final product is felt in ways visceral and cerebral. … Markuszewski's mid-range, intelligible rasp enhance greatly the pure malice of ‘Under Satan's Sun’, including certain stabbing riffs that come off as sonic manifestations of a knife attack on a cursed nemesis. Then again, “nemesis” is the most apt description of the views on Christianity revealed in the lyrics; no quarter for the pious, that’s a certainty,” [commented Scott Alisoglu, Blabbermouth – more here:]