I have just done a bit of geeking on Star Trek pages to see what the effects are of setting phasers on level 4 and anything after 3 which is meant to stun for an hour is pretty deadly. “Heat I 30 pts. lethal (l) damage, will heat objects to 150 degrees C”, is what I discovered. It kind of goes with the territory of these sci-fi enthused musicians Austin Texas and talk of cosmic rays, intergalactic waves, quasars and supernovas as musical reference points. The other thing I noted whilst listening to the album is that the melody and rhythms really infect, akin to those nasty worms in ST 2 Wrath Of Khan (I will stick with worms rather than the ants from the 1974 film which this band may well take their name from) and burrow into your brain, eating the parts of it that would allow you to get them out of your damn head. Anyway, enough of all that and apologies to you Next Geners but I’m strictly old-school.
I approached this one with a bit of caution as the likes of Death, Atheist and Cynic are mentioned and somewhat unashamedly, tech death never fails to bamboozle me. However other reference points are the weird out-there Norse bands who turned black metal on its head such as Virus and Ved Buens Ende. Now that I can hear and it is simply lovely in tones and nuance as are many other things I found whilst crawling through this strange and commanding stratosphere. The trio of musicians have certainly expanded and travelled to the outer-limits of what they do in other groups such as Bloody Panda and Gallows Throne. Indeed, as the album starts with its first one-word title ‘Horla’ I find myself somewhat in an Eastern European world that the likes of Root might inhabit. Its non-conventional, weird and experimental, even avant-garde to a certain extent. The guitar work is at times Gothic in structure and does not stop meandering like a never-ending fractal curling in on itself for the duration of the album. Bass tones are lovely and thick, really emphasised twangs are a delight to distinguish. Then there are the vocals, somewhat at the back they are a low eldritch growl. You can’t distinguish what they are saying, perhaps it’s all metaphysical and scientific, perhaps its an odd story of planetary colonisation. It’s best left to the imagination. They are more there as an extra instrument as far as I am concerned and stay at that level apart from the occasional higher slung scream further into the album.
There is nothing in the way of bursts of speed here, it is almost doom-like at times. It’s not seriously convoluted either, you can almost close your eyes and surf along to the melodies on a song like ‘Lure’ as it eases you through space trapped in its stasis lock. There’s plenty of parts that can be considered progressive and there is a touch of jazz about its shapeshifting structures. The VBE reference can certainly be heard among the skewed rhythms of a song such as ‘Devoid’ and its as odd as the titles making it all a bit of a puzzle-box. The way all the instruments are perfectly utilised and mixed into the mainframe also reminds a lot of Dutch musicologists Kong, ‘Psyche being one such Earminded example and Mick Harris’s Scorn could well be another reference point. The players coast through the tracks leaving the listener mesmerised and caught in a fever-dream knowing that this is going to be damn near impossible to shift from the noggin until long after silence descends. This is before you get to the eleven-minute epic final number ‘Willows’ with a first half summoning funeral doom by pace and weathered growls before taking you off on progressive tangents that would even have a Baroness fan sitting up and taking notes on its final frontier.
Lots to take in and digest and this is an enthralling listen. It’s also one I feel I have overdosed on cramming it for review, something I would not suggest. It’s better approached as an album to come back to over time as I can feel those damn worms pushing further and further towards my central cortex…
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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