Humanity and religion have led the world we live in to go on a downward spiral. This strange collective who are apparently from Russia are contemplating how we got here. It’s a tough question and one that answers are going to be hard to fathom especially when it is presented to us in virtual anonymity. We have little in the way of clues about this trio, they wear plague masks which might be original where they come from but here, we already have bands such as The Infernal Sea projecting such imagery. This is a debut album following on from 2 demos of the material and the tracks are simply entitled Far Beyond Insanity Parts I-IV. Possibly not knowing what names to bestow upon themselves the trio decided to continue along this route picking numerically V, VI, and VII. Make of all this what you will, one can only hope there is a little more thought and ideas about the music itself.
Naturally these are fairly lengthy tracks, wind whistles in, chants are vaguely heard in the background with guitars and drums taking up a repetitive thudding beat and strum. It’s a tried and tested fashion, the music is solemn and has a grimness about it via the melody but it is the vocals from V that are particularly of interest here. These are dictatorial and austere, throaty and gravid as they gurgle along to the music sticking to it like a limpet on a sea weathered rock. Its their expressive nature which is going to be the turn on or indeed off here as they are not immediate and take getting used to. Somewhat annoyingly I wish there was decipherable lyrics as quite honestly it is not even evident through the mix here what language they are in and if they are telling s story about such complex matter, I would like to know what they are all about. Still no great problem in the great scheme of things and as the clattering sound of the snare hits and the music determinedly plods and bursts into a galloping charge there is plenty going on to fixate on. The second part has a slightly more buoyant mindset about it, its still shrouded in funeral tones and there is a prevailing vibe of sorrow about everything the ever-theatrical vocals gurgling calamity and ruin. Once it settles down a bit the main melody is fattened and slightly pompous reminding me of early to mid-period Dimmu Borgir a fair bit, the orchestrations both nostalgic and evocative.
Its groovy, grim and ghastly as we hit the third segment. Guitars are barbed and thorny and there is a maliciousness about the music, its hooks getting right in and digging deep over the songs 13-minute duration. Playing this blind, I would probably guess its origins were Scandinavian rather than Russian and this just adds to the authenticity of it all; early Satyricon and Thorns spring to mind and there’s a spot of Mayhemic necro-croaking for good measure. By the malicious and scathing sounding fourth part it’s obvious each segment has good identity and the tracks are versatile enough for interest to flow. Whether this band are from deepest darkest Mother Russia as they claim or perhaps some scene elders putting a bit of mystery into things and I would not be surprised by this, they definitely have something going on here and it will be interesting to see how things develop in the future.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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