review: ESOTERIC - "EPISTEMOLOGICAL DESPONDENCY" :review

Esoteric "Epistemological Despondency"
Released 1994

Disc 1
1.  Bereft
2.  Only Hate (Baresark)
3.  The Noise of Depression

Disc 2
1.  Lamented Despondency
2.  Eradification (Of Thorns)
3.  Awaiting My Death

Clocking in at over 40 minutes for EACH CD, this album is monstrous.  This band is mainly death-doom with some funeral doom thrown in and some "psychedelic" tinges here and there.  Basically what it amounts to is mostly ridiculously slow dirges of just straight up darkness.  The production is claustrophobic, rough but engineered enough to be clear.  The riffs are monstrous, the ambient effects are perfect and the sludge is strong.

To describe it would be heavy, slow guitar riffs couple with leads that grab you by the emotional reigns and don't let go.  They are majestic, and slowly paint a beautiful yet sorrow-full canvas as the music dirges along.  The vocals are deep growls coupled with some high shrieks here and there.  At times, they are echoed as if the band is in the deepest cavern with no hope of rescue.

"Bereft" is easily one of my favorites, it opens the album with some of the most darkest, hate-filled, pissy riffs and attitude I have ever heard.  Listening to the song for my first time on youtube I was really blown away, actually speechless and thus absorbed in  the whole album that my mind was set on getting it.  The mood is perfect and captured amazingly, and it's only the first song!  "Only Hate..."  is easily an oddball though, it is less than 3 minutes long.  The speed is pretty fast compared to the rest of the album and sort-of clashes.  It still doesn't get any complaints from me though.  "The Noise of Depression" closes the first disc by really coming across as what it is titled.  The riffs are slow, the vocal effects are echoed, lazy and seem like the vocalist has lost all interest in everything.  Disc 2 continues on with this trend with the first track having it's fair share of attention-grabbing leads and atmosphere. "Eradification (Of Thorns)" is another easy favorite.  The pace is quickened, and the drumming has an awesome, almost tribal pattern to it.  The album ends with 'Awaiting My Death" and it really sounds like the title.  Clean guitar notes echo over complacent, sludgy riffs that give way to an epic that really carries the mood of hopelessness, anxiety and the unknown of awaiting one's final demise.

What amazes me with this album is mainly a couple of things.  The atmosphere is JUST SO DARK.  I am not talking about teenage-high-school-problems-emo dark, I am talking about straight up despising EVERYTHING.  It is definitely an album to couple with a bad day that takes everything out of you by the end of it.  It's angry, vile and pessimistic as hell.  It might sound horrible to listen to, but with an open mind this album grabs you and just smothers you without worry from the listener.  It's a long journey, but it can be therapy for the ears in a way. 

Second is how every song has it's variation, structure and "quirks" that separate each one.  With only 6 songs and lots of time to use, it is done brilliantly.  Each song conveys the mood described in the title, while sticking with the overall sound and pessimistic-as-hell mood. 

And third is the amount of music on here.  This album is a regular priced album like any other yet its over an hour and a half of original content that was recorded for the purpose of one album.  The amount of creativity and imagination these members had is quite amazing I think.  

A monster that grabs you and blankets you in darkness and comforts you at your worst.  A giant of noise and heaviness that awaits in every downpour.  If this album had a landscape it would be dusk, overcast, and complete with a crippled forest that stretches for eternity.  Yes, sadness and pessimism is not recommended for everything, but some days just lay it on us.  I have my happy music and try to live each day with a decent attitude but some days it is not even gonna come close to happening, whether in events that happen or how life has been playing out.  For those days, this band and album are there to put my ruin into sound and be there for me.  Call me crazy, but monoliths like this album can be a beautiful journey that can be there for you and are a real treat for the ears. 

For those days where I just want to slow down the clock and get lost in waves of sludge.....