For the first time since the Pandora’s box of Esoctrilihum opened, project mastermind Asthâghul created a side project. Othaliël is the folk-tinged fever dream parallel to Esoctrilihum’s metal-induced psychosis, and I had hopes this project would eschew the more recent musical flops that have plagued Esoctrilihum releases. The concept of an acoustic version of Esoctrilihum is fascinating in theory, and is a great way for Asthâghul to focus on his increased usage of 12-string guitar and nyckelharpa rather than ham-fistedly shoving it into Esoctrilihum albums with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Unfortunately, Ectrülhys is not a good debut from this side-project, and instead leaves me feeling like the glory days of Asthâghul’s songwriting are nearing an end.
Ectrülhys is not a metal album, rather, it’s a folk album with hints of metal thrown in. However, this complete removal of the plugged-in instruments and drums still manages to highlight what’s been wrong with so many of Asthâghul’s releases recently: the songwriting. While the chanting singers are a nice addition and do fit the atmosphere, Asthâghul still insists on using clean vocals for all of the songs, and he’s still not gotten to a point where the cleans sound good. The stop-start songwriting is back, and the disorientating transitions from passage to passage have never been more pronounced. I don’t necessarily need an easy ride in my music, but Othaliël throws together with a haphazard attitude to create a jarring experience that feels even more poorly-constructed than last year’s Esoctrilihum album.
Perhaps my hope for a carefully put together and well thought out project by Asthâghul is merely a pipe dream in 2025, compared to seven years ago. But, I still hold out hope. I applaud the attempt at something different, and I’m a firm believer that every project has potential, but so many of Asthâghul’s projects and releases recently have felt so completely put together with duct tape and a dream rather than careful planning to create something truly special. If Ectrülhys had hit at the peak of Esoctrilihum‘s stride, I could have thought Othaliël a master stroke highlighting Asthâghul’s spirit of innovation. But having witness the plummet of Esoctrilihum‘s vision, I can only call Ectrülhys a mess. Listen once if you wish, but there’s no need for more than that.
