Urfaust - Drei Rituale jenseits des Kosmos
August 11 2008 at 08:21:00 PM
Never make assumptions as most times they'll come back to bite you in the ass. Based on the Debemur Morti 'press release' about this EP, I was pretty much convinced the material was to be more on the ambient and/or classically inspired side of things with a dark twist. I was thinking along the lines of the tracks
Dunkel, still von Ewigkeit and
Verächtung Wird Einen Messertragenden Schatten but with some of their special brew of 'weirdness' sprinkled in. Well... I was wrong, way wrong. I really didn't think this was going to be a metal release but fortunately it is and much more.
All three tracks are named
Untitled and the EP clocks in at a little over 20 minutes.
IX's vox range from the frantic screaming/falsetto shrill to the guttural wailing to the low grumbling... it's all here. Everything is soaked and dripping in reverb which creates for a dark, haunting atmosphere.
Overall the EP track listing flows really well and creates a great deal of cohesiveness. Track 1 serves it's purpose as a warm up of sorts. It's fairly drone-y in nature but with a huge back beat and heavy cymbal usage. Track 2 is when the shit really hits the fan and in my opinion, when the EP hits its apex. The song is completely and utterly abrasive and has to be one of their harshest songs made to date. It kind of reminds me of the Abruptum track,
Dödsapparaten, but with a more metallic texture. Or, if you will, Urfaust meeting a sedated Merzbow. Finally, track 3 leads the EP to it's finish in a swirly, shoe-gazy haze. Guitars are slanted and vox warped.
There's a bit of everything in this release... old, new, borrowed and blue. I like it and I hope future output continues to be this diverse. Make no mistake, there's been absolutely nothing wrong with past output but this may keep these guys ahead of their game and remain fresh. Very worthy of purchase but I would recommend against it if trying out the band for the first time.
[chrisALPINO]
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