Continuing to lovingly bring Esoteric’s albums to life on vinyl Aesthetic Death have now breathed fresh air into the group’s 3rd full length Metamorphogenesis. It is a somewhat odd release even by this band’s standards. For a start it is their shortest at a scant 45 minutes and takes in 3 tracks. This has been waxed onto double vinyl here with a picture design taking up side d), obviously don’t try and play it… At the time there was a certain amount of line-up shuffles going on in the ranks and all the problems atypical of groups trying to fit work around live dates and fill in the gaps of members departing. The album eventually came out via Italian label Eibon Records and I have compared and contrasted the two releases, the original recording hampered by in the band’s words “a chaotic and hugely oppressive sound”. This has thankfully been greatly improved upon and the multi-layered sound is much clearer in definition here and much more in line with what Esoteric originally intended. This is especially noticeable in the flowing outro parts of certain songs and the clarity makes it a much more palatable experience for the listener to wrap their heads around.
Of-course being Esoteric it is still incredibly challenging music. First track ‘Dissident’ booms and thuds in without anything in the form of subtle introduction. Greg Chandler’s guttural roars are there almost immediately and the sharp shimmering guitars flow around them as the lysergic doom infects. Much clearer here, you can really follow the meandering guitar work and really fixate on it hearing the gaps between things and the strange sinister tones Esoteric are adept at conjuring up. The quieter moments bring slow and ominous tones and roars elongate, biting with bestial savagery; its scary stuff rest assured and if you are new to the band you will probably never have heard anything quite like this. It’s doubtful however that anyone is likely to pick up one of these 650 copies by mistake, this is one for the collectors. I love the way the slow drumming on this one stomps, hard and turgid in fashion with the vocals harrowing and frightening like an unstoppable beast is relentlessly stalking its prey. Progressively getting louder and faster it is very much the stuff of nightmares borne flesh. The aforementioned long psychedelic trail-out offers some respite on the album’s longest track before the vinyl is flipped.
What is ‘The Secret Of The Secret’? Well apart from some guest vocals from a visiting Tom Kvålsvoll of Paradigma and Dodheimsgard this is a free-flowing number which has some lighter parts for Esoteric and is allowed to drift and float in tempo with quite a heavy melodic impetus. It’s still utterly strange and disquieting make no mistake Perhaps a trip to the heavens rather than hell with some distinct spacey acoustic moments, it’s quite sublime in places. It’s left for a ‘Psychotropic Transgression’ at the end and let’s face it, you have accidently dropped acid and listened to Esoteric in the past, haven’t you? Not that we encourage such things and it won’t necessarily make the music any easier to understand. Vocal roars perpetuate this domain and the lethargic pace is one with huge instrumental clarity on this recording, everything undulating and settling as though deep breaths are being taken it sharply penetrates the senses and refuses to let go. You have no choice here but to ride it out and hope some sense of normality is restored by the end.
I have really enjoyed reliving ‘Metamorphogenesis,’ it’s probably far too long since I last heard it and with the somewhat impenetrable sound having been cleared up substantially this is definitely the way to experience the album in all it’s glory.
(8.5/10 Pete Woods)
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