There is still some creative metal coming out of the states this two man project from Portland is so experimental I expected to find out they were from France. This is black metal influenced death metal with a weird coating of ambiance over it.
I'm of the mind set than nay intro longer than the beginning of "Shout at the Devil"or "Them" is too long so the four minutes leading into "Veils" is a little much but is compensated by the fact the haunting ambiance carries over into the real song. Once the actual song rumble to life ,it is low and throbbing like it was recorded in a cavern in the lowest depths of Hell. They weight and depth of it is so impressive like many metal albums, the first song always impresses , then its can they keep it up for an entire album.
"Mirror of Eden" thrives on a more chaotic current than the album opened with , though the low end sepulchral nature of it still growls up at you. The drums real or programmed beat around the throb of the song in an almost jazz like manner at times. In the final two minutes the find a pretty powerful groove. The vocal are pretty varied going from shrieks to croaks to Sub- Cannibal Corpse lows.
When "Hell Synthesis" comes together it is not unlike most death metal aside from the ghostly craziness that haunts the edges of the song, creating ambient noise. They are redefining death metal as much as setting in it a haunted house. "The Devoured Aeons of Stygian Eternity" blast forward in a pretty single minded manner, these guys keep things dark and murky at all times , the snare does hit the annoying straight forward pattern I don't care for in this song, but the predominant riff that devours most of the track often overshadows it.
They keep pounding the point home with "Prayer For Ascetic Misery" which almost becomes a cacophonous mess, until it slows down. The blur of the beating continues on " Relinquished Destiny" , while I enjoy the layers these guys use the song writing could use some work.The syncopation shift is the song's high point. "Seculsion" gives a similar battering, causing the albums dynamic range to narrow.
The albums ends with the 13 minute "Abysscape' which is strongest when it keeps to a more doom like pacing, rather than stumble over it's tempo in acceleration. The band gets points for capturing this brand of darkness and ambiance, the vocals shift into more of a croak as the low gurgle gets weary after some time. I am not sure this song is justified in its length, as I found myself looking at the clock by the eight minute mark. I will give this album a 7 on its creative merits alone, but as a whole I'm not sure its something I am going to get much play out of aside from the initial overwhelming burst of heavy most metal albums give you.If you are bored with your everyday death metal though it might be what you need if you are prone to depression.
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