“My taste in metal rapidly expanded after Autarkh’s mastermind Michel Nienhuis obliterated my understanding of the universe with his atom-blasting Dodecahedron project. Crushing dissonance met twisted melody and horrific atmosphere in a package that was challenging but morbidly inviting not once, but twice. Autarkh falls far from that tree, not at all a continuation of Michel’s past efforts. This I respect and encourage.” Form before function.
“Ad Nauseam spilled into the avant-garde black/death metal scene in 2015 with Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est, a record that stood out for its audacity even among the most ambitious and experimental extreme metal records. Think Gorguts, think Baring Teeth, think Imperial Triumphant, and, yes, think Pyrrhon, but the Italian quartet are their own phenomenon.” Artisan sickness
“I wanted a black metal/noise hybrid. I figured it was the trvest style out there: the ultimate form of pitch-black atmosphere that could conjure abstractness and bleakness to new heights. While there have been plenty of artists that have tried, like Enbilulugugal, Gnaw Their Tongues, and Abruptum, success has been limited, so I wished upon a star for noisy black metal.” Cut off your noise to spite your face.
“There’s a menagerie of experimental groups about the borders of the black and death metal scenes, tracing out their own paths without much regard for popular approval or commercial success. On occasion, these groups will sweep into the mainstream, but for the most part, their influence is more subtle, appearing in an adulterated form in the riskier songs of established artists. If your poison is black metal you can choose between the flavors of Krallice (ever bolstered by their lineup’s star power), Jute Gyte, Genevieve, and many others. If your neck is a bit larger in diameter, you might want to choke down Baring Teeth, Coma Cluster Void, or this week’s subject, Thoren.” Buffet of bitters.
“Look at that album art, yo. Just look at it. LOOK AT IT!!! You might not necessarily be able to discern just what, exactly, is transpiring in that depiction, but you do know one thing: This… is… Black Metal! Perhaps that’s not enough to pique your interests, given the prolific prevalence ov metal’s best subgenre in recent years. Ok, you standards-having turd factories, would you be more intrigued by Zifir’s Demoniac Ethics if I were to tell you that this particular treat is a Turkish delight? Still nothing? Jesus, you people are impossible.” Evil ethics and pompous muppets.
“Editing is a big part of the creative process that few non-creators see. For every song set to record, there are others that remain demos or are simply never recorded. For every painting in a gallery, others sit in storage or are scraped away to salvage a canvas. Novelists work with editors before their books hit the shelves, and this is after they’ve already narrowed down their own ideas. When a band announces a new album in consecutive years, it’s reasonable to worry that whatever they’ve been baking is still doughy in the middle. So when I saw that the mad Frenchman behind blackened death metal project Esoctrilihum was set to release his FOURTH MOTHERFORKING ALBUM SINCE 2017, I was dubious.” Too much too soon?
“Dissonant black metal is having a bit of a moment. With the late-aughts explosion of woodsy atmoblack now a decade old and on the wane—if ever so slightly—and artists turning to other inspiration for blackened evolution, those reclusive and mysterious French musicians of Deathspell/Aus Nord who first pioneered a more technical, terrifying sound are suddenly elder statesmen of a mini-movement. Now there’s K. M., the appropriately cryptic single member of Poland’s Ars Magna Umbrae, with a new album of dissoblack tunes.” Magna opus.
“In the past couple of decades, metal has generated extremity along both rhythmic and harmonic paths, but the two have been largely insulated from another. Meshuggah and The Dillinger Escape Plan meticulously machined immensely complex rhythms, while Deathspell Omega and Ulcerate twisted strings to wring out sickening chords and chilling melodies. And while accusing Meshuggah or Dillinger of harmonic simplicity would be as absurd as dismissing Ulcerate or Deathspell’s considerable rhythmic weight, the approaches of the two schools are rarely invoked at once. That’s where Noise Trail Immersion come in.” New maths.
“I was settling into my windowless, poorly ventilated n00b office when I heard voices in the hall. Steel Druhm was asking for a review status, and words formed in an iron throat answered, ‘I’m watching a Vampire Diaries marathon until Halloween. Give it to a n00b.'” Exploitation is the gift we give n00bkind.
“To End It All’s debut, Scourge of Woman, is a monument to noise, anguish and righteous, burning rage; abrasive and chaotic, yet subtle and restrained, defiantly refusing to coddle the listener.” Noise and art.
