ACT OF IMPALEMENT
Hyperborean Altar (2013)
These Nashville filth spewers are set to make some waves here soon, I'm willing to bet. Their brand of raw and visceral noise brings together bits of every sub-genre of extreme music one could care to list ranging from straight forward death doom, to blackened d-beat crust not to forget a wholly unhealthy dose of southern fried sludge. It's pretty apparent these guys have a diverse background of extreme musical influences they are drawing from, and it all adds up to a pretty damn good listen.
Necromancers Theme starts this one off as a sort of anthem written for and about a more feral and knuckledragging species than any that grace our plane currently. At 4:04 and the second longest song on the EP, it's a great intro to what is to be a graceless descent into a merciless flogging.
The next three tracks go by in a furious mess of blood and teeth ending with the only track I disliked on the album, No Viking Funeral for Betrayers. Now, I didn't actually dislike the content of said song, mind you, because it definitely crushes.....it just felt unfinished and ended all too abruptly right went I felt like it should have really taken off.
The next track, Inquisition (of the innocent), gives us an almost expected (due to the songs title), but still abrupt black metal sucker punch that makes the nose bleed and eyes water, but leaves you wanting more and satisfied simultaneously.
Then the big guns come out with the albums two best tracks. Northumbrian King delivers a fetid doom dirge of massive proportions in preparation for the albums closer, Rise, Ancient Pantheon, an 80's swedeath guitar tone driven sludge outre that wraps this album in a burial shroud that you probably shouldn't look under.
This little piece of nastiness has its flaws, a few rushed moments that could have been a little further developed and maybe an awkward arrangement or two. But I really can't complain too much, seeing as so many bands that deal in doom and sludge as heavily as AoI can tend to drone on too long. All in all, this is a solid, creative and fulfilling listen. Keep your ears on these guys, if this is any indication of what they've got in store for us, the bowels of Hell are the limit.
7.5/10 ruptured eardrums
No comments:
Post a Comment