Actually, this find is from around early 2020, because I picked it up on the last major CD hunting trip I made before Covid really hit (the news was covering how quickly it was spreading, but there were no lockdowns or mask mandates yet). Finds were really scarce compared to all the places I went--before this, I had only found an Italian symphonic power metal disc (by a band I can't recall offhand), and a copy of the Gigantour double-DVD (it was super minty and even included a third bonus disc, so I couldn't resist). My favorite CD watering hole had literally nothing to offer.
Then I found this at the last store of the day. I was actually back there again not too long ago, and unfortunately their bargain bin was reduced to a shelf of less than 2 dozen CDs with nothing of interest. Anyway, at the time I bought this, they actually had a couple of metal discs in the bargain bin--all I remember now is the Emperor debut and a Nile album--but all of other discs were so scratched up that I had to pass on them. This is one of the most underground releases I've ever found locally, and while I was pleased to find something so eclectic, truthfully I wasn't expecting much from the band. Yeah, there's a Hellhammer shirt in the band pics, but the spelling of the band name and titles seemed corny, and I was prepared for war metal or generic black/death.
I remember some vague associations struck me when seeing the logo. The weird spellings immediately made me think of Sadistik Exekution, although the calligraphy and cover art realistically owe more to Away than Rok. My brain keeps telling me there is another band with a logo very similar in style to Khthoniik Cerviiks'. It might be Katharsis and I misremembered just how spiky their logo was.
The music took me by surprise. From the start, there are strong Voivodian overtones to the riffage, like some Killing Technology/Dimension Hatröss idea applied in the context of death metal (with some minor black metal influences at times). In fact, the two parts of the title track sound very much like Voivod meets Altars/Blessed Morbid Angel, though without the chaotic Azagthoth shredding. The twisted and somewhat weird nature of the music also reminds me quite a bit of early Sadistik Exekution, although Khthoniik Cerviiks lack the crazed Altars of Madness/Seven Churches-on-crack feel of The Magus and don't come off nearly as unhinged. While there is some weirdness here, to be fair, on the full spectrum of extreme metal, this isn't particularly crazy or experimental especially compared to something like say, Portal, but that's probably why I enjoyed it. Despite some of the unusual songwriting and atypical elements, one foot is always grounded in more straightforward extreme metal composition, so it never meanders off into overly progressive nonsense.
Can't say this is my favorite kind of metal, but this is the only death metal release I have discovered with any sort of weird/oddball elements that I've genuinely enjoyed in recent memory.
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