With members from Triptykon, Obscura, Dark Fortress and Obsidious all contributing, this is an interesting band and one which reflects their different styles. Progressive extreme metal is how it gets billed. In existence for 10 years, this is the band’s third album.
Given the diverse range of inputs, it’s perhaps not surprising that this album comes in at around 70 minutes. “Qliphosis” starts on a death metal base, but is far from just that. It’s a journey of wonderment through a myriad of styles, among them progressive passages, a jazzy bass guitar insertion, and dark harmonies. Somehow there is fluidity. It certainly demands attention. For comparison, it’s as if death metal was interrupted by Ephel Duath clashing with Haken. “The Cambrian Explosion” translates as a technical death metal attack, interrupted briefly by moments of instrumental progressive finery. A spooky choir cuts in, the technical metal returns, a little jazzy piece ensues, back to technical metal … Alkaloid aren’t leaving anything out there. It stops suddenly. I’m still recovering but there’s no time as the dark and sinister tones of “Clusterfuck” are demanding our attention. Grainy, harsh, gloomy – Alkaloid are taking a different direction. It’s leaden-heavy in its progress but never uniquely so as the chorus has a disconcertingly bright voice behind it. We are then taken down an exotic progressive path before diving back into pure death territory. If there is any doubt about H.P. Lovecraft links here, it is dispelled with “Shades of Shub-Niggurath”, a driving deathly piece with a theatrically emphatic chorus line and now familiar twists and turns. “A Fool’s Desire” starts more quietly, with an acoustic rhythm and a reflective lyrical line. It’s a harsh ballad with a 70s style rock guitar twist, which transforms into a downtrodden death-progressive-rock piece. As we reach the half way point with the driving death outpouring of “The Fungi from Yuggoth”, I reflected on the styles we find on this song and the album as a whole. As previously pure death is mixed with delicate little cameos, technical metal and harsh assaults as if everyone involved has had a say and has been allowed to input “their bit”. Sometimes it’s fluid, while at other times it’s more like a patchwork and I was not entirely convinced that this was working.
After a sultry Mediterranean-style acoustic piece comes the title song. “Numen” is a highly unusual, shadowy cosmic-inspired metal piece. The delivery is dramatic, dark and sounds like it should belong to a metal opera. The deep and distorted whisperings suggest the Dark Fortress influence. It’s uncompromising and scary. “Recursion”, which follows, descends into a maelstrom of terror and chaos. A combination of darkly beating drum and djenty death pump out venom. This is “The Folding”. The sky falls in midway through and an atmospheric surge from the cosmos fills our ears. The vocalist growls despairingly. The machine restarts amid the turbulence and chaos. We’re being dragged through a scene of terror and devastation. The final piece “Alpha Aur” starts creepily. The soft and quiet vocals may sound comforting but there’s a sinister air of malevolence like Tiamat. The song takes off in another direction and spreads its blackened death poison. Just as the song gains momentum, there is a break and the bleakest of tunes strikes up. A guitar solo brings some life to this deathly scene. Musically the instrumentals and clean vocal narrative add a dimension as the thirteen-minute song draws to a close, but like all this album it’s not depicting a happy place.
I found “Numen” challenging in an interesting way. For me the first half had too many elements to be truly engaging. I thought the creepy, flesh-invading second section had more impact. Overall this album cannot be faulted for dark intent or malevolence of atmosphere.
(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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