While they may not be household names (yet), Angerot are a band often fawned over here at Nine Circles, Inc.  We’ve been keeping a close eye on them since The Divine Apostate, and I jumped firmly on the train with their third full-length The Profound Recreant way, way back in the wilds of 2023.  Naturally, when their fourth full-length Seofon (ironically, the Old English word for “seven”) was announced, we all had a brutal deathmatch over who would get to review it.  Turns out, it was I who came out on top of the pile of broken bodies of all the people we have on staff for whom exercise is an important part of their life…

All of that isn’t even to mention what is so important and special about Seofon; upon the rollout of The Profound Recreant, Angerot found themselves drummer-less and in a bind.  What, then, were they to do when the time came to record more music?  If you have a phonebook (or contact list, it is 2025 after all) as wide and deep as they do, you get by with a little help from some friends.  The true meaning of the title of the album is that Seofon is seven tracks recorded with seven different guest drummers, each adding their own personal flair to the tried-and-true Angerot sound.  If you checked out The Profound Recreant, you know that Angerot are hardly short of high-profile collaborators, and that trend continues on Seofont.  These aren’t just any random yahoos scraped up off the streets; we’re talking Kevin Paradis, Derek Roddy, Daray Brzozowski of Dimmu Borgir, Pierce Williams of Ænigmatum, “Lord” Marco Pitruzzella, Thomas Haywood (an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist who happens to be the founder of Redefining Darkness Records), and Zack Simmons of Goatwhore and Acid Bath.  Each drummer was called up, given a song personalized for them, and asked to provide their interpretation of it.  Truly, Seofon was originally supposed to be a 4 song EP, but the process was so creatively invigorating that the band decided to flesh it out into a full album.  The end result absolutely reeks of the fun and energy that was felt in the studio.

When you make an album that not only features well-known guests, but puts them squarely in the spotlight of the album’s ethos, you run a risk of the guest stars outshining the main players.  Seofon rides that line extremely closely, but it is incredibly cool to see how each song has a different feel to it, but it still feels like you’re listening to an Angerot album.  Seofon sees Angerot back away from the pure HM-2 worship of The Profound Recreant and lean more into a blackened death metal sound reminiscent of mid-era Behemoth and their ilk.  The riffs are crushing and punishing, and C.R. Petit’s roaring bellow is a solid throughline that ties each variation on the theme together.  What’s also really awesome to see is that this time the guitar solos are handled in house, with the only guests being drummers this time around.  Don’t get me wrong: if you can get Andy LaRocque to solo on your album, absolutely do that, but Seofon proves Petit and co-guitarist Jason Ellsworth are no slouches either.  Their interplay with the various drummers is beyond commendable: on “With No Eyes I See” they somehow manage to keep neck-and-neck with Simmons’ signature hardcore gallop; “Her Song Ov Feathers and Ivory” features off-kilter, staccato blast beats courtesy of Lord Marco that the trio barely blink an eye at, and on the one-two punch of “Rapture of All That Is” and “When Witches Dance”, featuring Kevin Paradis and Derek Roddy respectively, they back off slightly and allow two of the flashiest drummers in the game room to go wild on fills.  Seofon truly showcases a spirit of collaboration and camaraderie, instead of just having big names carry the team.

Seofon sets the bar incredibly high for the future of Angerot.  At this point, do they even need a drummer?  Just keep doing this forever, I say.  Keep your friends close and don’t be afraid to lean on them.  Best case scenario, this creates a feedback loop where more people know about Angerot and there are EVEN MORE guests on their next album!

— Ian

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Seofon will be available July 11 on Redefining Darkness Records.  For more information on Angerot, visit their Facebook page.