Pneuma Hagion

***"PNEUMA HAGION returns to the cursed material realm with their second full-length treatise Demiurge. A thematically coherent work, this offering explores the Gnostic idea of the Demiurge. According to Gnostic mythos, this malevolent deity takes the name Yaldabaoth and imprisons man in an inherently corrupt terrestrial world. While Gnostic symbolism is heavily employed, Pneuma Hagion avoid dogmatic reiterations and instead use the Gnostic cosmology as a metaphor for man’s struggle against the incarnate, corporeal misery of his earthly existence. Heavy low-end frequencies throb through this audial void, evoking a thick ferocity that brings to mind Incangation and mid-era Morbid Angel. Pneuma Hagion's proprietor R is joined on this recording by drummer Shane Elwell, whose precise work primes a bleak canvas for R’s guttural, deliberately intoned vocal performance. Literate, apocalyptic, and heavy to a disturbing degree, DEMIURGE is a standout release of 2022."—P. Lautensleger