A conundrum in three parts. When something is described as “Avant-Garde” alarm bells ring. Are there going to be nose flutes and field recordings? Ancient Sumerian death rites mixed with Russian Drum and Bass. Ah who am I kidding I already wanna hear this strange amalgamation I have just concocted.
Ifryt a one-man project from Poland intrigued me from the moment it plopped through my letter box. The album cover depicts a pair of lungs (Pluca) and windpipe sitting in the desert. Real Dali feel to it. The inlay shows Kuna – the musician behind Ifryt, resembling a cross between Buffalo Bill and Iggy Pop. Next to him is a picture of a photographer in a pig leather fetish mask. The back of the sleeve has purple swastikas which fill me with dread and I furiously research to look for any NSBM links for fear of supporting right wing nutters. I find no bonehead links and press play. Google translate is my friend for lyrical investigation.
Three tracks on offer here beginning with Kluckz Salomona (Solomon’s Key”. Now Ifryt are tagged as Black Speed Metal amongst other things on Bandcamp and the riff that opens this track hails back to a golden age of 80’s speed metal – think early Helloween and Bathory with a smidgen of Manowar grandiosity. It morphs into a gnarly blackened riff which sees Kuna vocally self-duelling between a gruff Black Metal rasp and a proggy clean. The solo that slams in at the end of the track is pure 80’s thrash – hair blown back with black candles and fake blood splattered glamour models (yeah Slayer I am looking at you). Cheesy as fuck but wonderful. The track is a trip through Middle Eastern magic – power from the desert bringing death and destruction to conquer foes. Love it!
“Kona Allah” is next – translated from Arabic to “We Were God” and it is time for the Jinn to rise from the flames and destroy the religions that followed them. This is a blackened blast – some heads down horns aloft verses which slams the anchors on occasionally for a clean cry of “Kona Allah” then drops into a Celtic Frost style atmospheric groove before that 80’s thrash lead breaks out again. Things slow to a section that brings to mind the intro of “Hallowed Be Thy Name” before blasting into a speed metal frenzy finish.
The epic 10-minute “Straszne Rzeczy” – Terrible Things – is the final track. A spoken word passage in Polish explains that the track depicts a dream Kuna had about a priest finding a picture of a devil on a temple door. Believing he had three days to decode the symbol he locked himself in with his disciples to meditate on it. Ifryt then tell the tale of those three days in a mix of styles – mixing jazzy prog in with what sound like nursery rhymes, spoken word, thrash and black metal.
The first day is a meditation on fear but there is a still pious hope. A light lilting melody that resembles a chant. The second day is more twisted and the priest fights the urge to masturbate to death – as he is practicing “no fap “ and he berates a homeless visitor as an instagram slut. This descent into madness is injected with blastbeats and black metal fury. The lyrics are absurdist and are definitely worth translating – Ifryt uses language to paint abstract pictures that enhance the dreamlike quality of this track.
By the third day the priest realises the truth and screams at the knowledge – was he the devil depicted? Are mankind the bringers of madness? I will leave you to decide. It reminds me of a found footage movie – a journey into the pain and torture of a man looking for truth and hating what he finds.
Ifryt offer up an intriguing and yes Avant-Garde style of art that made me think as well as bang my head – it is not often that happens beyond a “ooh that is a clever lyric” way. Pluca offers three aural essays on faith and belief and the power of the unknown which is very different from the usual Baphomet / Horny devil trope so often proffered by metal.
(8.5/10 Matt Mason)
Leave a Reply