Total Dissonance Worship

Kvadrat – The Horrible Dissonance of Oblivion Review

By Thus Spoke on April 2, 2024 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 33 comments

“Back in June 2021, when my Instagram page was fresh-faced and non-AMG-affiliated, I reviewed Kvadrat’s EP Ψυχική Αποσύνθεση. Struck by its mesmerizing blend of atmospheric, dissonant death and black metal, I bemoaned its truncated length as I was sucked in by what I then described as “a gripping black hole of sound.” With the vividness of this experience having faded into a memory of “that really great Greek EP,” everything came flooding back upon receipt of a DM from the (sole) individual behind Kvadrat, Ivan Agakechagias, asking if I wanted to review his upcoming debut.” Greek tragedy.

Sacrificial Vein – Black Terror Genesis Review

By Thus Spoke on March 16, 2024 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 55 comments

“There’s that strain of black metal, straddling if not disregarding boundaries between atmospheric, post, melodic, dissonant, and second-wave, where the music, true to its occupying the less-mainstream corners of the genre, sits like a shadowy presence in peripheral vision—preoccupying itself not with Lovecraftian horrors, or overt, antagonistic portrayals of Satanism, but with terrors less far-fetched and obscure. An occultism of an introspective, existential bent, premised on the human mind. Sacrificial Vein, comprised of fragmented members of Nothingness, Aegaeon, and a mysterious JU, follow this dark trajectory.” Tapping some veins.

Hecatoncheir – Nightmare Utopia Review

By Dear Hollow on March 15, 2024 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, 42 comments

“The journey begins by following a dark silhouette, each installment describes surreal and dreamlike landscapes, strange characters, and objects—with monolithic importance attached in the strange way that dreams do. In the latter tracks, ever-vigilant eyes watch from the stars and assume a more horrific face as they emerge from the darkness as the cruel pelagic and empyrean deities and monsters among Lovecraft’s multitudes. Hecatoncheir’s uniquely dreamlike take on chthonic horror, balanced by its ambitions in liminal spaces, set one hell of a precedent for the music contained herein.” Fear and loathing in Slovakia.

Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift Review

By Dear Hollow on May 3, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Industrial Metal, 58 comments

“I didn’t know what to expect with Deformity Adrift. Although I knew it’s rooted in the inherently unfriendly style of dissonant death metal, I wasn’t sure which breed: perhaps the scathing apathy of Mithridatum, the sun-bleached Altars, the occult mumblings of Mitochondrion, or the twisted technicality of Asystole, to name a few. I shrugged and thought, “I’ve seen it all” and pushed play on Nightmarer. What tormented me about the Berlin/Portland quartet is that, despite my best efforts to describe it with bands of similar ilk, I cannot put words to its latest foray. It rides the line neatly between the haunting devastation of its influences and a tantalizingly listenable quality that defies the need for abstraction. Nightmarer has created a unique dilemma.” DilemmaER!