November Doom- Esoteric ; "A Pyrrhic Existence"

I love Esoteric. "Paragon of Dissonance" is one of my favorite albums. But I will only listen to a 30 minute song once no matter how good it is. That is how they open their new album. They are still funeral doom. It's three and a half minutes in until the vocals come in. Understandable as there are still 27 minutes left in the song. The vocals are lower and more inhuman this time around with weird effect on them to show case this fact. The vocals do shift into higher tormented screams. Eight and a half minutes in the ambiance gets really weird and spacey. This song is as long as Slayer's entire "Reign in Blood" album. Granted that one is thrash so moving at more of a punk speed while this one really lingers through the movements. At this length you have to think of it more along the lines of symphonic work. Midway into the song the pace picks up to more of a furious pounding. Yes the heavy guitar is there, but everything is bathed in far more atmosphere. The song could have ended at the 16 minute as it breaks down into swirling ambiance. There is the hesitant introduction of cleaner guitar being strummed. They tease you with a crashes of violence before committing to fully attacking you again. This is paid off at the 19 minute mark. It's quiet beautiful, but unless I am just leaving this album on I doubt this is a song I am going to cue up even to hear it's most memorable pasts. The last three minutes of this song is sound effects that could have been trimmed altogether .

This is follow by the almost sixteen minute sprawl that is "Rotting in Dereliction" though compared to the opener this is a pop song. It does have a nastier murkiness to it. Four minutes in things get interesting and build more drive.Some much so that it gather enough steam to muster a head banging groove for a few measures. Two minutes later it erupts into blast beats and guitar solos. They deserve credit for knowing how to pull of doom without vomiting up a bunch of tired Sabbath riffs. The song floats in a drone away from me becoming more of a background pulse. There is a four minute synth interlude and then they come back with " Consuming Lies". The delayed guitar sound is chilling. The staccato riff , finds an awesome groove even the vocals lock into that might be the album's finest moment.  This progress int of a solid chug. Around he 9 minute mark this drift of into a more progressive place with jazz under pining, particularly when it comes to the drumming here.  "Culmination" has a nasty snarl. At 18 minutes it still holds your attention. Progressive elements return midway into this song. At the 11 minute mark there is a swathe of white noise as the drums hold the tension. Double bass breaks this up. It's clear these guys are like the Meshuggah of doom.

The album closes with "Sick and Tired" .  More of their forward thinking guitar playing is shone upon. It is more like Pink Floyd than Black Sabbath.. It is perhaps one of the album's most melodic moments . The low growl of the vocals offset this, though it still has a soaring transcendent feel. At the five minute mark I am wondering how they are going to maintain this kind of sonic intensity as the vocals lash out into more of a scream. They don't instead they shift gears and lower themselves back into the dismal murk . This is a great album though there is fat that could have been trimmed from a song writing perspective, so I am giving this one a 9. This album is being released on Season of Mist.