Reading the literature which comes with this album, if I understand it correctly, this is all about individuality, epitomised by “contemplation before the action … the prelude to the change and the final breath before delving into the unknown”. Mr Donn of the Philosophy tells us that “the work should be treated as a living embodiment an ideal and not a desire to be another “band” in the conventional sense”. I’m not sure what the musical form has to do with it, although I suppose it’s as a good a means of expression as any other.
What the music conveys is infernal darkness. Thrashing, dirty black metal spewed from hell in an old style way, not entirely unlike Gorgoroth. If this is a glimpse into the creator’s personality, all I can say is that it’s thick with disease-ridden smoke. I quite like its intensity, the relentless battery, the deadened old-fashioned guitar style and the sheer blackness but every track has the same characteristic, and I’m none the wiser when it comes to reconciling the music with the “philosophy”. I can see there’s an occult element here and that goes with the music but the lyrics don’t impose themselves on me enough that I want to know more. The grandiose phrases are swallowed up by the never ending black metal onslaught. Everything sounds similar. There’s a bit of violence on “Kinetike” but there’s no real stand-out track. There’s plenty of turmoil but the general mood this album seems to represent is of a monotone and hopeless existence rather than an individual in revolt. “With Black I Absorb, Violet Contemplate, Red I Summon the Strength to Act” suggests otherwise. In fact it’s like the sound of mass execution with funereal guitar work to match. It becomes more dark and deadened as it progresses in its sludgy way. The black metal suffering goes on inexorably before the deliberately discordant and chaotically orientated guitar work of “Horns Curve into Broken Circles” bring the first section to an end. All this reminds me musically of the bloke next door spending weeks on a building project. You get used to the intense noise after a while. “Horns Curve into Broken Circles” seems to end and then there’s laughter. The two track “Theo/TsimTsum” then begins with more furious black metal violence, basically. “Manipulator of Men” finishes the job off with a final blast of high-octane intensity.
I wasn’t really into the subject matter here and whilst I appreciated the level of commitment, I didn’t feel any point coming across about individuality or anything else. So having not got the concept of this, I preferred the music which was intense but even so was for me mostly indistinguishable and uninspiring.
(4.5 / 10 Andrew Doherty)
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