Released 2007
1. Obombration
2. The Shrine of Mad Laughter
3. Bread of Bitterness
4. The Repellent Scars of Abandon and Election
5. A Chore for the Lost
6. Obombration
Ah yes, another black metal band that I highly respect. They don't do corpse paint, don't even have official pictures of themselves. They are very satanist in their views and album image. They have never played live. All they care about is making high quality BM and creating incredible imagery for their albums to convey the music. Like Blut Aus Nord; a band I also highly admire; they are revered in the genre for making incredible BM. What makes this music more special than others? Pure. &^%$ing. Crazy.
The intro is quiet, and unnerving. It gives you no warning before the music kicks into high gear with "The Shrine...". Furious blast-beats, off the wall riffing and sinister vocals assaulting you ears. Thing is, the riffs are not your typical old-school or melodic tremolo picking. They are just, hmmm....WEIRD. Completely dissonant, loud, with neo-classical flourishes here and there. Riffs just calculatingly assaulting the listener with weird structures, noises, pickings and coordinated into a perfectly put-together clusterf&*^.
The first time I heard this, I was blown away. The album ended and I was in shell-shock of what the hell did I hear?!?!? The riffs are so crazy, and layered that one listen couldn't even peel apart what was strung in throughout the song. The quiet parts were creepy, unnerving and made me feel like the person on the album cover. The music switches from fast and nonsensical to quiet, ambient sections then back to more weird riffing. Even when the song is at a mid-tempo part, or a "cleaner" part, the riff patterns, the construction of the parts are just plain straight f%$!ed up.
The thing that constantly amazes me is how calculated it all is. The band didn't write random riffs and cluster them together with no rhyme or reason. If so, the album would be sloppy, and amateur at best. What is present instead is tight musicianship from all members. The drumming is immaculate, the guitar playing is god-like, and the songs are structured with a plan and preciseness in mind. The ambient, atmospheric parts weave throughout to bring a story along. With how the lyrics are, the album art is, and the song structures themselves this band is really trying to tell a story. A tale is being laid out, everything in this composition has PURPOSE, a POINT and a MESSAGE. Even after many listens, I still haven't even found every little treasure or part that this album has. To be truthful, I don't think I ever will. So much is packed into this art, the compositions, the layering and structuring of it all that steam would come out of my ears before I found every little thing.
To summarize, if you are looking for an album to demand your attention with dissonance, perfectly placed complexity, musicianship of the highest degree and straight-up-wtf-craziness, GIVE THIS ALBUM A LISTEN! Be prepared to be overwhelmed at first. Then listen many more times to try and wrap your head around this perfection of black metal. You will be rewarded :)
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