STORMO – Endocannabalismo (Prosthetic Records) [AV4Apod]
The subgenre descriptor of “post” was once explained to me as when a band uses the conventions of their chosen musical tribe in a way that transcends the historical understanding of that genre; or when a band includes elements from beyond their own subgenre to synthesize their sound in a new and unconventional way… like putting a Hammond organ on a death metal album. Plenty of human organs; rarely a Hammond organ.
Endocannabalismo is the fourth LP by the Italian post-hardcore quartet STORMO and while they certainly do fit the bill for a band that has transcended their own subgenre through a synthesis of both the conventional and unconventional, their latest release contains a depth and variety of sound and poetry that “post-hardcore” barely scratches the surface of a description.
The band hurtles through 29 minutes of loosely associated influences like Rage Against The Machine and Minor Threat, even the down-tuned and distorted bass of Nu-Metal outfits like Korn and System of a Down make an appearance but nothing about Endocannabalismo is anything but entirely unique.
From the opening moments of a single, distorted guitar, exploding into a heavily syncopated drum track and ascending riff on Valichi, Oltre the dynamic, forceful energy of the album gives the listener only the briefest of moments to catch their breath like the acoustic intro to Sorte only two songs later before a crushing return to the record’s brutal pace. Endocannibalismo the song offers another anticipatory respite before delivering what is the emotional high-point of the record following up the title track with Disequilirio, that starts like another highly syncopated banger before descending into a heart-rending riff around the midway point.
The album closes with the haunting, cacophonous echoes of Sopravvivenza e Forme and though I don’t have enough room to give you a full account of the lyrical beauty of the record, I will leave you with a single line from the album which centres thematically around the practice of eating one’s ancestors (always a Human, never a Hammond). From the song Deserti “Searching in the dunes I looked for the meaning of the Shadows / In empty streets I looked for what burns beyond.” 8/10
DDENT: Ex Auditu Part 1 (Chien Noir) [Mark Young]
DDENT is the brainchild of Louis Lambert, as writer, arranger and performer of this instrumental release from Chien Noir, released this week.
I’ve said this previously that reviewing music you get chance to listen to a style that you wouldn’t normally try and this in that vein. Ex Auditu Part 1 has 4 tracks on it and tonally it is different from just about everything else going at the minute. The closest I could find is Zombi in that they are also instrumentalists and produce similar arrangements such as these which really could be used in film, TV and games. Where this differs is that each song is taking from the one before and expanding that theme, so it builds to a natural progression.
Caute is the start, with barely audible keys that swell to bring track 2 into play. Neceffe Eft Vivere then is a slow, one note melody with the heaviness coming from the accompanying drumming, with a constant guitar melody line supported by the shimmering effect from How Soon Is Now which just moves over the 7 minute song length and is an epic track. It isn’t heavy in that there are lower than low guitars and blast beats but that doesn’t really matter here. The music seems to exist outside of normal genres, picking bits from here and from there but made with an underlying dark motif. With the album being Part 1 I’m assuming that there is a Part 2 which will complete his vision here and provide the listener with the whole concept that you can absorb in one sitting.
Calidum Innatum brings a slow build once more, possibly written as the middle act as you would find in a screenplay. Here it plays out as melancholic melody is repeated, with keys and bass at the front with the guitar providing support. Vale brings black metal tremolo picking in the background and then towards the end it lifts off with muscular riffing and then stops. The thing with this is that had there been vocals over it in any style they would have been a detriment and would take away from each of the passages below. February is being very good so far, and I’d recommend that you should check this out 8/10
Sermon - Till Birth Us Do Part (Bitume Productions/Earache Records) [Paul Scoble]
Firstly, before I get into any reviewing I should point out that this Sermon is a Turkish death/doom band, not the progressive metal band that is releasing an album next month who share the same name, and very nearly share release dates.
The story of Sermon starts in 1997 when the band formed, released two demos and got a small amount of interest from the Turkish music press. After a few lineup changes the band wrote some new songs but were not able to do anything with them and ended up splitting up in 2004. Fast forward to 2021 and sole original member rhythm guitarist Cem Barut decided to get Sermon going again by recruiting multi-instrumentalist Durmus Kalin on lead guitar, keyboards and drum programming, and lead singer Harun Altum (also of Turkish death/doom band Forgotten) was then recruited to make up the full lineup. It’s taken Sermon twenty six years to get their debut album recorded and released, after all that time, has it been worth the wait?
The sound on Till Birth Us Do Part is dense and heavy, with hefty riffs and tuneful melody leads over the top, so this is fairly traditional death/doom. The album is very heavy and the leads are melodic, memorable, and very hummable. The vocals are harsh throughout the album, Harun Altum has a deep and guttural voice that fits with the bands sound very well.
A good example of Sermon’s style can be found on the albums opening track Posthumous, huge and heavy riffs pound the listener in a slow but persistent way, harsh vocals come crashing in closely followed by a melody lead that helps to sooth the heaviness. The song feels relentless as it drives ever onwards with the leads wailing away, there is a guitar solo that adds a little more tunefulness, before the song slowly pounds to its end. So, heavy as all fuck, but tempered with great tunes and interesting vocals.
Sermon have a great base sound that I have just described, but they have also added lots of different sounds and moods to keep everything interesting. The track Flawless Entropy is a good case in point; the song opens with layered strings, which stay with the song for most of the way through. In many places the strings take the place of the melody leads and are the main melodic part of the song. Flawless Entropy also has a couple of sections that are much more minimal than the rest of the song, and contain some spoken word vocals. There is also a really melodious guitar solo, so the lead guitar doesn’t feel left out with all those melodic stings.
Another really interesting track is Requitement, which has a far more open structure than a lot of the other material on Till Death Us Do Part. There is a lot more space around the riffs which allows the tunefulness and melody to shine through, it isn’t quite as dense as the other tracks so it stands out, and, as with most of songs on this album, there is a great solo.
Most of this album is big and heavy and also very melodic but the song Destined To Decline has a sound that is closer to funeral doom, the slowest and saddest form of doom. The song opens with a church organ before slow and very sombre riffs crawl in, the song is crushingly heavy and has less melody than a lot of the other material, probably by design. The organ returns nearer the end to cement the Funereality of all this desolate sadness.
The drums on Till Birth Us Do Part are processed, in a few places this gives the song a very slight Industrial feel, but on Gnostic Dissensus Sermon jump right into the dancey industrial vibe. The song opens with a synth riff before an uptempo industrial beat drops in, the vocals have a fair amount of processing on them, and this is far closer to industrial than to any death/doom I’ve heard. The track is the shortest on the album and despite being different to the other tracks, still feels like Sermon and doesn’t sound incongruous.
Till Death Us Do Part was worth the wait. It’s a great album full of crushingly heavy death/doom that works well as individual songs and is even better as a whole album listened to as a complete piece of work. I think it is also testament to how having the fortitude to keep going to attain a dream, can result in making a great album. Cem Barut never let go of his desire to get a Sermon album recorded and released, and here it is, a cracking piece of work that he can be rightly proud of, it might have taken twenty six years, but this album has been worth the wait. 8/10
Cadaver Shrine – Benighted Desecration (Chaos Records) [Rick Eaglestone]
A new deathly entity emerges from Maurice De Jong, reeking of eternal rot Cadaver Shrine unearth debut Benighted Desecration. The aptly named opener The Reverberation is greatly positioned as it is laden with a brooding, yet crushing aura, with slow purposely delivered lyrics that leave you craving more of the putrefied rot. This is followed by the dominance of destructive drum patterns and lurking bass lines on And Death Crawls.
Highlight track for me has to be the dread filled Dragged Away as for the most part it leaves the listener is a state of doom laden awe in the early part, and then it takes a heavier approach which has some wonderful guitar parts embedded in whereas The Black Door is death doom personified with Tongues Spread giving off early Morbid Angel for good measure.
Firing through the gates of hell at a furious speed is title track Benighted Desecration it’s a change of pace I wasn’t expected but as soon as it hit was immediately ready for and breaks up the album nicely then if that wasn’t enough the skull smashing Faceless Abomination crashes in like a Khorne Berzerker ready for battle and thirsty for blood.
Final offering The Shattered Corpse lingers very much in the murkier depths and like the opening track is slow, purposeful and ready to leave a message of ominous intent.
A delightfully destructive debut. 8/10
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