I’m not sure how absurdist and existential philosophy, which themselves sit at opposite ends of the spectrum, lend them particularly to death metal but I guess we’re going to find out. Phobophilic from Fargo, North Dakota draw from the thinking of Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and Friedrich Nietzsche. Ah, memories of my university days with those first two.
Those university days didn’t involve me listening to deep, technical death metal like we have here. Starting with “Enantiodromia”, there’s a flow. It’s carving a groove in the floor and its progress is the epitome of menace but this is death metal. The flow is just about maintained, with a breakdown towards the end where the atmosphere is of doom and I guess disaster. The technical riffage continues on “Those Which Stare Back”. The magic is in the underlying deep and repetitious riff. Although it takes a turn into its own avenue, it’s very much under control. The riffage remains the same but the tempo and aggressive intensity are stepped up as we plunge ourselves into the flying parts of “Nauseating Despair”. Mid-way there’s a reflective but heavy guitar passage – this album only does heavy and never compromises on this to its credit – before cranking up again and regaling us with a further volley of rapid-fire growly technical death.
“Cathedrals of Blood (Twilight of the Idols)” takes us on another twisty journey of heavy and darkest intensity. The ambient “Individuation” provides three minutes of hypnotising reflection before battle recommences with the gnarly and accelerating “The Illusion of Self”. Deathly sparks fly as the wheels turn rapidly and the guttural roar undercuts the advancing juggernaut. “Survive in Obscurity” is a deathly wandering before the taps are opened to make way for the further meanderings of the title song. Technical, brutal and dark, it creeps through our veins before picking up the tempo and bringing this feast of death metal to a close.
I read references in connection with this album to a “meticulous vivisection of the philosophical self and purpose”, “fundamental rejection of nihilism” and to asking “fundamental questions of life’s true meaning”. The vivisection maybe is evident from the style, but overall I really didn’t read those conclusions into the music, however hard I used my imagination. What I can say is that “Envelop Absurdity” is a competent death metal album with a great deal of technical merit.
(6.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
Leave a Reply