The Scythians were among the first warring peoples to learn to wage war and conquest on horseback. They even sometimes drank the blood of their enemies and saved their scalps for use as a napkin. Drawing upon that history, Scythian produce raw, aggressive and pounding metal. On their second full-length, Hubris in Excelsis, their warlike roots are on full display as the band builds on their history and lore.

Scythian hasn’t released more than a split in the six years since their first full-length, To Those Who Stand Against Us… was released. That album was met with more than a modicum of praise. Now, Scythian’s once again blasting the listener with a heavy dose of death-thrash (that somehow recalls early black metal all the while), and they’ve not only topped their debut but they have produced an album that has very little room for critique, period.

Scythian provides something for everyone. Thrash influences pop up as early as the title track, as whammy bars scream and guitar solos fly. “Tyrants Feast” gets back to basics with blast beats and a  more exasperated and urgent, call and response-style vocal performance. And what UK metal album would be complete without some acoustic instrumentation and Druid-like chanting? Well that comes during “Penultimate Truth Ultimate Deceit.” It’s that diversity, effortlessly woven throughout the tracks, that makes the album so utterly successful and captivating.

The vocals range from whispers and monk-like chants to tortured screams and snarls to everything in between. (Save for singing, of course) The guitars are full of hellfire, and hang heavily layered in the tracks. The drumming is clinical at times, no matter what influence or idea is being crammed into each track. It’s all effortless. Scythian just fly from start to finish, incorporating and celebrating so many forms of metal throughout Hubris in Excelsis that it’d be hard, even for the casual fan, to walk away from a full spin without having become a rabid fan of extreme metal.

None if this is meant to say that Hubris in Excelsis is an unfocused or scatterbrained work. All of the band’s influences only serve to enhance their foundational sound — which is, without a doubt, death metal. And at nine tracks and a smidge over 45 minutes, the listener has plenty of time to absorb it all. Neither cumbersome nor rote, Hubris in Excelsis will entertain from start to finish. A work of stunning solidity, Scythian effortlessly blends blackened death metal with thrash and just a touch of pagan black metal to create something wholly unique and quite amazing.

-Manny-O-War

Hubris in Excelsis is available now via Hells Headbangers. For more information on Scythian, visit the band’s Facebook page.