Review: Pyogenesis “Ignis Creatio” [Osmose Productions]

Out of all the doom/death metal bands that have gone through drastic changes, Pyogenesis probably take the cake. Their transitional period was awkward as hell and what the band is up to nowadays sounds rather bizarre (even if they still play several older tunes nowadays). That said, just like many other bands that once played doom/death metal, Pyogenesis had their hearts in the right place for a while.

Just like many others, Pyogenesis started as a death metal band that would discover doom/death metal not many years later and I suspect that the most obvious inspiration source of Ignis Creatio comes down to Paradise Lost’s Gothic, even if this EP never turns out as dreadful. While its cathedral-like cover artwork might hint a sense of never-ending gloom, Ignis Creatio features plenty of light in contrast to its shades. The guitars speed up quite often and while many doom/death metal bands do well in this regard, Pyogenesis speed up to a point that the dirge-like atmosphere they create from time to time disappears into oblivion and even the gruff death metal growls aren’t able to make much a difference. Hearing the vocalist roar ”yeah, come on!” twice followed by some melodic tremolo riffs on “Still Burn in Fire” and a happy riff on “Like Tears” doesn’t really scream doom/death metal now, does it? Indeed, Ignis Creatio gets pretty goofy at times – there’s no other way to put it.

Otherwise, the ingredients of this EP are pretty much what one might expect out of this style. You’ve got gruff harsh vocals and angelic clean vocals soaring above layers of melodic, yet metallic riffs while an occasional clean guitar break / keyboard line interrupts and changes the mood of a certain song. The aforementioned two numbers are both good examples of Pyogenesis’ twists and turns while retaining their metallic spirit in shape and only “On Soulwings” feels like a clear exception of the band’s formula in terms of song craft. Hearing those leads wail around those sledgehammering riffs in a majestic, yet pounding manner recalls Morgion circa Among Majestic Ruins and the result is by far the best and heaviest tune you’ll encounter on this EP.

I could have done with some more shades over light in terms of the record’s atmosphere and in an ideal world this EP would have been just a warm up for Pyogenesis, yet the band would only go downhill from here. Fans of early doom/death metal should definitely get value out of this, though, even if you should easily be able to stumble upon superior records from the early 90’s.

Release date: 1992

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