Father Befouled- Revulsion of Seraphic Grace(2012)

Father Befouled- Revulsion of Seraphic Grace

Whether he is summoning pestilential spirits in Black Funeral, divining the bloody remnants of the unborn in Prosanctus Inferi or merely eviscerating the weak in Father Befouled, Jake Kohn is an easy man to figure out: all brutality and death all the time.  Perhaps not the most breathtaking career, but one that has endeared him to the Ross Bay Cult-types and aging Death Metal fans who still think that Technical Death Metal is killing the genre.  Of all three projects, Father Befouled(which he joined after the band formed) stands out as the most "brass-tacks": while Black Funeral routinely delve into dark, creepy ambiance, and Prosanctus Inferi are so brutal and fast as to be alien, Father Befouled... sound exactly like Incantation.  Revulsion of Seraphic Grace is the bands third full-length album of what essentially amount to Incantation-derivatives, as doomy and subterranean as anything Incantation have released, if not anywhere near as classic or intense.  And in fairness, Father Befouled have never tried to be anything but an Incantation clone.  Artwork, song-titles, lyrics; all none-too-clever nods to the Old New Yorkers and their revolutionary and now endlessly imitated style.  So perhaps it's unfair to judge Revulsion of Seraphic Grace as anything but a worship album, a send up to those ancient monsters whom gave life to many a nightmarish soundscape.  If we judge it on this criteria, then were does it stand?

It stands, but barely.

It's not all on the album: Incantation worship has grown painfully stale at this point.  The market has been thoroughly flooded with albums that sound exactly like this, to the point that it's value and listenability has dropped to almost zero.  I'm personally so sick of Incantation worship, it's starting to make it hard to listen to the real thing.  But even taking Incantation out of the equation and merely comparing Revulsion of Seraphic Grace to previous Father Befouled albums, it still comes off as trite and de-fanged.  Compared to 2010's Morbid Destitution of Covenant, Revulsion sounds positively pussy-footed: the production is the bands cleanest and weakest to date, while the tired and breathy vocals are now loud enough to be annoying rather than scenery.  The songs are also universally slower and LONGER, including the ridiculously boring "Triumvirate of Liturgical Desecration," which crawls like a leper with two broken legs across pine-tar for almost 10 minutes.  Such self-indulgent song length for what amounts to a tribute album is just completely unnecessary and even worse, god-damn boring.  Morbid Destitution of Covenant kept things short and simple, allowing for maximum slaughter at maximum efficiency, which is why it remains a favorite among Incantation-worship albums.  For moments at a time, Revulsion delivers some punishing riffs, but the album begins and ends in a blur of "why bother" which is difficult to shake.

At this point, it's hard to imagine we will get much of anything different from Father Befouled: it's what their fans want and it's what these guys want to play.  The cycle is in place and no one is really interested in breaking it, including me.  Death Metal doesn't get much more dank and rotten than it does on Revulsion of Seraphic Grace, so the question becomes: is dank and rotten enough?  Or more importantly, when does dank and rotten just start to mean it stinks like a dead cat by the roadside?

Rating: 5.5/10

Fuck Computers

So my video card melted.

Having freshly moved in to my brand new shitty apartment, complete with poorly painted walls and doors put in backwards, I endeavored to get my out-dated rig set up and ready for late nights of writing reviews in a drunken stupor.

And then my video card melted.

So as of right now, I'm mostly out of commission until next Friday, aka pay-day.

I shall return.  The Curse lives on.

Cheers,
HeySharpshooter

So, Who Wants To Come Over And Help Me Move?

Just a quick update to let readers know that I will be away from the blog for a few weeks while I get moved to a new dank, pest-infested pit of unholy suffering... also known as an apartment.  Between moving preparations, school preparations, work and listening to an ungodly amount of Kate Bush, I just don't have the time at this moment to write terrible reviews about Old-Skull Deth Methul bands.  But once I've finished gathering twigs and dead animal furr for my new nest. expect the Curse to be back in full swing.

Cheers,
HeySharpshooter

Review Round-Up: Raw as Fvck in the VSA

This whole review thing can be a real pain in the ass.  For one, you always need to be on top of the newest releases, yet because of this annoying little thing that keeps forcing me to do things like go to work and bathe, I never have any time to review them. I think it's called "real life" or something, and I'm not too fond of it.  Unfortunately, homelessness limits my Wi-Fi options, otherwise I would sleep in the alley behind the grocery store and listen to obscure shitty Black Metal albums all day, stopping only occasionally to fight off the packs of feral cats.  We all can dream...

The Rain in Endless Fall- Weald of Introspection(2011-2012)

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, The Rain in Endless Fall is the second project of Lord Vast and Grond Nefarious, also of Wylve and the masterful Blut Der Nacht.  With a more Depressive Black Metal slant, The Rain in Endless Fall are not as powerful and primitive as Blut Der Nacht, but it's still a solid project.  Grimm yet oddly melodic, Weald of Introspection does offer some uniqueness in its structure: the opening track "Ashes Left of a Flame That Once Burned Within" is the true song, the final three tracks making up a solid grimm outro of acoustic guitar passages and the hypnotic whispers of rainfall.  It's still pretty standard stuff, but well played and perfectly produced to satisfy your cravings for cold, thin, frozen Black Metal.

Rating: 7/10

Wylve- Wylve(2012)

And here we have Wylve's debut s/t demo, which isn't all the different from the stuff done by The Rain in Endless Fall: melodic, atmospheric and raw.  There is a bit more speed here, but it's all about the repetition and cold, frozen atmosphere.  It's also the cleanest material this duo have produced, but whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on personal preference.  Truth is, neither of this projects hold a candle to Blut Der Nacht, but then again few bands in modern Raw Black Metal do.

Rating: 6.5/10

Grinning Death's Head- Golden Dawn(2012)

Grinning Death's Head have been teetering the line between primitive, skull fucking Black Metal and sloppy, unlistenable Crust Punk better then just about anyone else since their 2008 debut demo, and Golden Dawn isn't much of a departure from the bands previous material.  Brain-injury may result from the raw, incomprehensible production, but sifting through the static waves of pain reveals a deep under-current of crusty, filthy riffs and ruinous, tortured screams.  Songs are simple and catchy, breaking bones and rending flesh with an effective mid-paced tempo, but I imagine the production will scare away more then a few listeners.

Rating: 7.5/10

Torture Chain- Time is But a Doorway to the Incinerator(2012)

If one band in modern Black Metal can make a claim to being the next Darkthrone, my vote would go to Torture Chain hands down.  Easily one of the finest projects in Black Metal today, Torture Chain are a defining modern act, and Time is But a Doorway to the Incinerator is 23 minutes of frozen bliss.  Equal parts unchained aggression and spine-tingling melody, Time devastates the very air, turning into a toxic, flesh-melting mist.  It's all heavily inspired by Norwegian masters as the aforementioned Darkthrone, Mayhem and even a bit of Emperor, but it also brings a bit of that American spirit to the song-writing with it's  crusty, powerful guitar sound and full-throated vocal attack.  Time is easily the bands best material since the nearly flawless Humbling Isolation Terror, and a must listen

Rating: 8.5/10

Nightbringer/Acherontas-The Ruins of Edom (2012)

Nightbringer/Acherontas-The Ruins of Edom

Considering that I have been voraciously devouring anything and everything American black metal luminaries Nightbringer have put out since the day Lucifer Trismegistus first viciously carved the sigils of Satan unto my unsuspecting mortal form, it is needless that amid a sea of terrific releases I was anticipating this year, this was high upon the list.  Nightbringer is, quite simply, one of the greatest American black metal bands currently still in operation, utilizing vile yet grandiose riffing that takes the usual chthonic atmosphere of black metal to a far more dangerous level.   Acherontas too, is no mere acolyte in the scene, crafting darkly melodic overtures that draw heavily upon the riffs of such Swedish legends as Dissection and Necrophobic, while adding a more dissonant aspect that puts them firmly in the “Orthodox” black metal camp. 

The resulting split could in some sense be considered a display of consistency on both bands’ part, yet I could not help but feel that for me personally, it represented the hitting of a creative rut that most great bands eventually stumble upon in their careers.  The split opens on the Nightbringer side with a cavernous, ritualistic dark ambient piece that serves as an effective, haunting introduction to Mare, the first true metallic track on the release.  In the tried and true spirit of a Nightbringer song, tremolo-picked melodies whirl (dare I say waltz?) like possessed dervishes over a blood-soaked mountaintop, equal parts nocturnal and blistering, while blasting drums simultaneously hammer away at the foundations of your sanity. 

The race towards perdition eventually slows down and culminates in a paean of dark triumph, providing a satisfying conclusion to this blasphemous assault.  While Mare was undoubtedly the most enjoyable piece on the split for me, in the end it still felt like an inferior rehashing of the scorching style they had perfected on Apocalypse Sun, albeit with every element that made the latter release great toned-down and condensed into more accessible form.  The song’s relative predictability and straightforward song structure ended up only making me crave the more mystical, jarring realms of their past releases, despite it being in all regards a solid track.

That being said, the second Nightbringer track would prove far more lackluster in form.  The Grave-Earth’s Son drags itself into nonexistence with its lack of song dynamics and plodding pace.  While similar, slower numbers had worked well for Nightbringer in the past through the sheer majesty of their melodic fervor, Grave-Earth’s Son simply just sits there and stews in menace, but ultimately doesn’t deliver the conclusive bite that would have made the song stand out for me.  While certainly not lacking in the trademark Nightbringer atmosphere, the song proved to be a narrative to nowhere, not aggressive or purposeful enough for its own good. 

After another long dark ambient interlude that, while serving its purpose effectively, felt anticlimactic as the epilogue of a below-average Nightbringer performance, it’s finally Acherontas’s turn to spread their miasma over hallowed ground.  And they do so, in great form.  Layil is a monstrous track that takes the mystical diabolism of Vamachara and adds a degree of dissonant urgency not unlike what we have heard in French luminaries Deathspell Omega’s work.  The riffs are relentless in their shifting nature and pummel the listener like molten meteorites.  Yet they never become too convoluted for their own good, and ultimately serve as mere conduits for a powerful atmosphere of unearthly blackness.  The track eventually pulls itself into a subtle yet beautiful melodic riff that draws this symphony of darkness to a close.  In contrast to Naas Alcameth’s monstrous howls however, Acherontas’s vocalist seemed rather meek, especially in the context of Layil’s more bombastic nature.  This minor irritant only slightly detracted from my overall appreciation of the track. 

Alas, the moment of triumph is all too ephemeral, as the Acherontas side draws to a close with yet another ambient outro that seems all too anticlimactic.  In the end, The Ruins of Edom falls prey to its own lack of ambition, yet is framed in a grandiose manner that belies the rather brief moments of triumph within its enclosure.  While the release does contains its flashes of brilliance, I cannot help but feel that so much more could have been accomplished through this unholy alliance.

7/10 

Witchrist- The Grand Tormentor(2012)

Witchrist- The Grand Tormentor

New Zealand's Witchrist first caught my attention with their debut LP Beheaded Ouroborous: a vile progeny or the corpophagous swarm, slithering and sulking beneath the black, dead soil, searching for the sickeningly sweet scent of Death.  It was easily one of the most impressive and enjoyable debuts I have ever had the pleasure to listen to, and left me craving for more.  How surprised I was then that The Grand Tormentor was able to sneak up on me: it hit the distros and blogosphere before I even knew what was happening.  Needless to say, once I got my hands on the album, I was salivating at the chance to be enveloped in the bands next nightmarish evolution.

Sadly, The Grand Tormentor merely reacquainted me with the evils of high expectations.  The album didn't even sound like the Witchrist I knew and loved: instead of the horrifying stew of Archgoat, Incantation and Beherit I was expecting to dine upon, I instead received a pile of ground Bolt Thrower-meets-Asphyx chuck, raw and covered in flies.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but also not what I signed up for either.  Truth is, The Grand Tormentor is a perfectly fine album in it's own right.  The production is wonderful: powerful and static-riddled, each riff landing with sledge-hammer force.  The songwriting also holds up to scrutiny: an easy mix of groove and Doom that will no doubt satisfy big fans of Bolt Thrower and Benediction.  Needless to say, it's got riffs: "Cast Into Fire" is short. groove-laden and heavy, and will no doubt get heads banging and mosh pits thundering, while "The Tomb" will draw many favorable comparisons to Asphyx with it's slow,   monstrous pace and underpinnings of creepy melody.  The Grand Tormentor works well for what it is.

And this is also my biggest issue with the album: The Grand Tormentor is a pretty massive departure from the bands previous work, so much so that I just can't get behind it.  It may not be objective, but then again music is never truly objective: the value of personal preference is vastly under stated when it comes to the analysis of any album, and disingenuous attempts to curtail it's importance are frankly obnoxious.  I simply cannot get into The Grand Tormentor precisely because it is such a massive departure from a direction I vastly preferred.  Gone is the atmosphere and dessicated bleakness of Beheaded Ouroborous, replaced with groovy-riffs and monotonous guttural grunts.  Many have complained about the bands new vocalist, known as Void, because he lacks the range and rawness of the bands previous vocalist Impecator(these two must have been tortured as children with such names...).  I am not one of these people per-se: Void is a very competent growler, and his style fits perfectly with the bands new direction.  My issue with his vocal attack comes from my problem with the band new direction more than his performance.

It's true, "Occult" Black/Death like Witchrist played on albums like Beheaded Ouroborous and Curses of Annihilation has become pretty trendy in Death Metal.  There are a veritable sea of bands dabbling in occult mysterious and impious practices right now, and I can understand any band wanting to separate themselves from the scene.  But why jump from one trendy sound to another?  There are just as many "Old-Skull Death Methul" bands rehashing played out Bolt Thrower and Asphyx riffs as there are grimm, lo-fi C'thulhu Cultists mucking about, so I really don't understand the change.  And at least the "Occult" Black/Death movement is a new one, born from a revival of classic Death and Black Metal perhaps, but none the less a new phenomenon.  Everything about The Grand Tormentor(no doubt a reference to Benediction's The Grand Leveller) feels watered down, from the musical approach to the artwork to the song titles.  The Grand Tormentor will no doubt appeal to a larger audience, but it's also missing something that the bands previous work had in spades: personality.

Much like recent albums from Undergang and Cruciamentum, Witchrist have toned down their evil in favor of a more accessible, well-worn sound.  And like those recent releases, The Grand Tormentor is a solid album for what it is.  And what it is exactly is a large step back, away from downward progression into true nihilism and instead into well tread paths of various beloved forebears.  Competency can only get this album so far, but those who are looking for a head-banging good time should seek out The Grand Tormentor.  For me, I'll wait for more intoxicating whispers from the dark.

Rating: 6/10

Review Round-Up : Dissonant Fields

It's been a while since I've done a review round-up, but I found myself dealing with four separate albums that shared way too many similarities of influence: Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord and Ulcerate.  So rather then be all redundant and shit(you guys all hate that), a few mini-reviews seemed in order.

Azoic- Gateways(2012)

It doesn't get more fresh then this: a brand new duo from Iceland(though both members have plenty of experience), Azoic have released a damn fine debut with Gateways.  It's not exceptionally original: if you have heard anything from Deathspell Omega, Ulcerate or Blut Aus Nord(or just about any current "Orthodox" Black Metal band or modern "Atmospheric" Death Metal band), you have heard much of what Gateways has to offer.  The strength of the album comes with the details: the production is thick and warm, featuring brilliantly ethereal vocals and a rich, full guitar sound.  Gateways consistently mixes up the intensity and tempo, and it's fairly effortless in it's atmosphere while remaining highly technical and aggressive.  It may be little more then the sum of it's influences, but Gateways works and works well.

Rating: 8/10

Beyond Terror, Beyond Grace- Nadir(2012)

I just don't get this album.

Beyond Terror, Beyond Grace were once one of the better young Techgrind acts around, and seemed well on their way toward joining the elite of that genre.  Then comes this massive shift in sound, and a massive down-shift in quality: Nadir is not a bad album per-se, so much as a just terribly boring one.  Nadir feels like a practice recording, a band toying with a massive change is style and getting the feel for the genre.  These moments have their place, but not on a major release.  Nadir has a few individual riffs and moments where things pick up, but the tempo remains consistent most of the album, the production mix is atrocious and the vocals do not fit the new style in anyway.  Nadir is an ugly, incomplete-feeling album that struggles to find a voice in a crowded, trendy genre... a rehearsal recording dressed up as a full-length album.

Rating: 4/10

Dodecahedron- Dodecahedron(2012)

No album has been more polarizing for me then Dodecahedron.  The part of me that craves adventure, creativity, originality and personality wants to love Dodecahedron for the experimental, genre-bending tornado that it is.  While featuring a dozen or so obvious influences, particularly Deathspell Omega, Dodecahedron never becomes reliant on these influences to justify itself.  From the first note to the last, the album pushes as many boundaries as it can, and quickly as it can.  Mixing elements of Death Metal, Black Metal, Prog Rock and Post-Rock, Dodecahedron is the kind of album that would normally get me all hot and bothered.

Unfortunately, Dodecahedron is equally as limp-wristed as it is progressive.  A strange complaint perhaps: it seems likely that this Netherlands five-piece weren't really trying to crack open too many skulls or slaughter too many innocents with this album.  Yet this particular reviewer still laments the total loss of aggression and intensity in the search for genre-decimating technicality and progressiveness, and it makes Dodecahedron a major missed opportunity for me. It also doesn't help that the vocals are... well, bad.  Anaal Nathrakh bad.

Rating: 6.5/10

Esoterica- Idololatriae(2012)

Like Azoic, Esoterica are another oven-fresh two piece(US based), and their new EP Idololatriae is fairly solid.  It's a very similar album to Gateways, though it also features the strongest modern Blut Aus Nord vibe of all the albums featured here.  It's another slab of thick, warm and technical Atmospheric Black/Death that isn't strikingly original, but works for what it is.  "Dilated" in particular stands out as a dissonant wall of noise, though this track also stands head and shoulders over the rest of the album.  Solid and acceptable.

Rating: 7/10

BONUS REVIEW:

Deathspell Omega- Drought(2012)

Since their shadow looms large over this entire post, it seems appropriate that we touch on the brand new EP from the masters themselves.  They need no real introduction: Deathspell Omega are without a doubt one of the defining Extreme Music acts of this, or any, generation.  Whether every note fills you with intense love or sickening hate, Deathspell Omega have always held great power, regardless of how many times they made drastic, explosive changes to their sound.

Until now anyway.  Drought is an appropriate album title: it's dry all right, in both new ideas and evil.  Imagine Paracletus, merely devoid of any real Black Metal sensibilities, and you have Drought.  It has far more in common with the progressive, Proggy Death Metal of acts like In Mourning or Fallujah then anything else, complete with a butchered production sound.  At times, through sheer force of musical prowess, Drought begins to show some life: regardless of genre, the members of Deathspell Omega are some of the finest musicians in the world and Drought proves it unequivocally.  Yet it was always the song-writing that made Deathspell Omega truly great: a black fog of un-life, filling the air with electricity and suffering beyond compare.  Drought evokes none of these images, drenched in Prog and unimpressive melody, seemingly trying to get by on technical prowess and nothing else.

It's not a devastating blow to the legacy of Deathspell Omega by any means: it is more slight and forgettable then truly disastrous.  Deathspell Omega have always sought new ground for each individual album to stand, and truthfully Drought is yet again a new direction for the band musically.  It was an album of calculated risks, and when a band takes risks, no matter their talent or history, they are capable of a mis-step.  Drought is a failure, but an admirable one.

Rating: 5/10

Hellvetron- Death Scroll of Seven Hells and it's Infernal Majesties(2012)

Hellvetron- Death Scroll of Seven Hells and it's Infernal Majesties

If there is one big positive we can take from the revival of Old School Death Metal over the last seven years(give or take), it would have to be the birth of "Occult Death Metal."  Influenced heavily by New York legends Incantation and Immolation, as well as a diverse group of Death and Black Metal bands from the early and mid 90's,  "Occult Death Metal" remains somewhat of an enigma: it's not really a genre, and the bands who often fall under the label are very diverse stylistically.  The ties that bind these modern acts together are esoteric and misty, but one word always appears in every bio, blurb and review for these acts: atmosphere.  Specifically, a primary focus on atmosphere and emotional intensity over "riff-salads" and guitar solos.  The music these artists create is often lo-fi and organic, in an effort to invoke the old, rotten spirits of the Earth.  And that's exactly what Hellvetron are attempting to do on Death Scrolls of Seven Hells and it's Infernal Majesties: summon the unknown into the light, so that it may devour willing and unwilling souls alike.  Hailing from Texas, Hellvetron fit about as perfectly into the "Occult Death Metal" movement as any artist I have heard.  So much so in fact, that Death Scrolls might just be the birth of a genre: the first real Occult Death Metal album, sans quotation marks.

That's not to say that Death Scrolls is massively different then anything you might have heard before.  The specters of  Incantation, Imprecation and Beherit loom over the entire recording, and modern acts such as Grave Upheaval, Antediluvian, Sonne Adam and Muknal have also touched on many of the dark, twisted themes that Death Scrolls does.  Yet this album does have a claim on being the first true Occult Death Metal album, because the focus is 100% on atmosphere and texture: pulling individual riffs and sections from this light-devouring void of madness defeats the purpose of the compositions, which are built from the ground up to evoke specific emotions of dread and demonic possession.  After a dozen spins of Death Scrolls, I never once found myself even lightly bobbing my head or commenting under my breath about "nice riffs."  That's not to say that the album doesn't have them, or that it's rhythmically spastic, only that everything about the album is nefariously designed to be atmospheric and textured.  The riffs and drums are buried under a mile of reverb, while the tempos remain slow and hypnotically focused.  The compositions are also dense and busy, featuring loud, powerful vocals and extensive use of ambient keyboards and noises, while the bass is overwhelming with it's low-end intensity.  The ambient sounds in particular are my favorite aspect of the album, and with more and more bands making use of them, they still stand out here because they are used appropriately and only for maximum effect.  Death Scrolls is an album meant to be experienced more then merely listened to, which is partly why I don't find it quite as awe-inspiring as many of the albums released by Hellvetron's peers.

Hellvetron have taken the ratio of "pure insanity" and "listenable" and thrown it completely in the direction of screaming nightmares.  Which is not a bad thing, it merely makes Death Scrolls an album with a time and a place to be enjoyed.  If you plan on summoning some ancient atrocity against God in your dank, smelly bathroom, I could not think of a more appropriate album to have ominously proliferating shadows in the swell of incantations and smoke, but beyond these moments(we've all been there), Death Scrolls is just not every day listening.  It's an album that demands being started and finished all in one sitting to really make any impact, so just casually picking out a single track to play for a friend or to throw on a play list is utterly pointless.

Death Scrolls is a fine album regardless of it's limited use: it fits all my personal desires for Death Metal, as it is nihilistic, atmospheric, fresh and strongly rooted in it's thematic purpose.  And no doubt fans of the "Occult Death Metal" movement will greatly enjoy this album.  The atmosphere is effortless, the intensity is sky-high and the evil simply overwhelming.  Hellvetron achieves every single goal it set for itself on Death Scrolls, and my future forays into the unknown in the search for ancient secrets will have a new soundtrack.

Rating: 8.5/10

GGUW- Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit(2011)

GGUW- Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit

The opening Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit is little more then the distorted sounds of various animals of unknown origin, clamoring and shrieking in pain and rage, while a thundering drum smashes against the backdrop in pure frustration.  The monster of the sub-conscious perhaps, throwing itself against the weakened walls of one's sanity, breaking down the barriers of humanity in a desperate search for freedom and flesh.  Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit is a bestial experience, one of transformation and emancipation from a cold, unnatural world that we live in today.  It's a Black Metal album unlike any I have heard: it's rawness and repetition are instantly familiar, but it's atmosphere is completely alien and unique.  No album has ever made me feel like Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit has, and the album leaves not only a lasting emotional impression, but a physical one as well.  Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit is full contact art, unsympathetic yet oddly warm and inviting, drawing you in with it's comforting yet imposing guitar sound and emotional, devastatingly sad vocals.

Once the cage to the beast within is opened, Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit envelops you in it's controlled insanity.  Then opening untitled track(all the tracks are untitled) features no more then three actual riffs, repeated continuously with consistent speed and mounting intensity, while an inhuman shriek likely saying nothing at all calls out from the abyss of distortion and blast-beats.  It's a deceptively simple composition, more endurance then skill, but it's incredibly effective and powerful.  The vocals devolve into nothing more then mad wails, choking noises and bellows, and by now the transfixing and hypnotic riffs have put you under their spell.  You feel every ounce of the sadness and anger; you become the beast within.  

The following tracks are somewhat more traditional, yet remain sickening in their darkness and bewitching in their construction.  There is an obvious influence of Depressive Black Metal, yet GGUW do not sound like any Black Metal artist I can really think of, other then perhaps Luciation(though both projects evoke entirely different images and emotions).  All the elements are familiar, but presented in such a way as to be unparalleled in the genre.

If any complaint against Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit can be levied, it's that the album feels somewhat incomplete.  At only three tracks, it features an obvious intro but ends abruptly and without much fanfare.  So does life it seems; it's likely the album feels unfinished because of the recent passing of guitar player Wolfrano Ketzer, who committed suicide in May   Hearing the bleakness of Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit makes it hard not to wonder if the personal demons facing Mr. Ketzer had some impact on the sound and emotions of the album.  This is all speculation of course: maybe this was how the album was intended to feel and I have no inside information on what exactly happened or why.  But Gegen Gravitation und Wilensfreiheit feels like an album written and performed by men who understand suffering, and those emotions come through clearly and powerfully.  In a small sliver of positive news, GGUW will try and forge on without him, a testament to both the internal strength of their members and of a love for making music about anything but love.

I can only hope for more.  Gegen Gravitation und Wilensfreiheit may be short, but it's an album which can be listened to over and over again despite the despondency of it's atmosphere and themes.  It's a small jewel, a tiny masterpiece whose impact far exceeds it's stature.  It calls to the inner monster within all of us, and it cannot help but answer it.

Rating: 9.5/10

Ectovoid- Fractured In The Timeless Abyss(2012)

  

Ectovoid- Fractured In The Timeless Abyss

Alabama Death Metal band Ectovoid are almost laughably lock-step with the rest of the current Death Metal scene and trends: old-school nostalgia worship, doing what's been done before without bring much of anything new to the table in terms of new ideas of unique concepts.  It's little more then the sum of it's influences: Immolation(especially), Bolt Thrower, Autopsy, Grave, etc. are all present and accounted for, and most of Fractured In The Timeless Abyss's listening time is spent tying all the influences to the different sections, checking off the appearance of each legend.  It's even ripe with Lovecraftian-imagery for fuck's sake, which at this point almost feels like a requirement more then a choice of lyrical concepts.

And ya know what?  It's still pretty good.

For some readers of this blog, this is a pretty crazy statement coming from this reviewer, who probably hasn't made a ton of friends amongst the tried-and-true Old School 'Heads.  And I went into Fractured In The Timeless Abyss wanting to hate it.  It was an album which represents all of my current issues with the current Death Metal scene in spades.  When I say not one new idea, I mean it: Fractured In The Timeless Abyss is in fact locked in a space-time disturbance, in which it is perpetually 1992(a horrifying thought.)  After a dozen spins I could have developed a spreadsheet of "gently borrowed" riffs, ideas and compositions from a dozen different classic Death Metal acts, a good portion of those which I dislike greatly.  This was an album I seemed destined to hate, one to fill me with righteous fury and reaffirm my disillusionment with the current "old-school is the only school" mythology dominating the genre.

So what the fuck?  What's my angle?  It comes down to a single word: craftsmanship.  Fractured In The Timeless Abyss is like a finely made table: unspectacular and highly unoriginal, but solid and sturdy.  The guys in Ectovoid are just rock solid musicians, and the band is tighter then a scene-queen's pre-teen jeans.  Vocalist Chuck Bryant growls not only with unholy guttural intensity, but also with impressive clarity and pronunciation.  In fact, not since Sonne Adam's Transformation has there been a more distinguishable vocal performance.  Sure, he wastes it on time a dozen lyrics about "space horrors" and "coffins," but it's still a damn fine effort.  And while Fractured In The Timeless Abyss is miles from what most would consider "Tech-Death," there are some damn complex riffs and leads through-out the album.  Through sheer force of musicianship, production(clear but thick) and generally excellent performances, Fractured In The Timeless Abyss made a solid impression on me.  It also features one of the years best songs, "Chewing Through the Membrane of Time and Space," a tight and tidy slice of Immolation-meets-Bolt Thrower not to be missed.

Fractured In The Timeless Abyss is truly little more then highly digestible, low-brow Death Metal; a rather convincing imitation of true nihilism and inhumanity, wrapped in a gorgeous cover and served ready-made for easy consumption.  It's not a meal I normally partake of, but while the ingredients are little more then clever re-productions of reality, the men who made the meal are damn fine chefs.  It might be the same ol' same ol' I've had a thousand times, but this one time it wasn't too bad at all.

Rating: 7/10