Supreme Chaos Records (2009)
When
I first listened to this album I was irritated by its progressiveness.
Yet I came back again and the second time I saw visions before my inner
eye, of empty forests, a cabin deep in the woods, cursed, where the
evil dead lie. The feeling you have when standing in the middle of
nature, watching a lake, noticing the insects swirling, movement under
the fir needles covering the ground. My vision corresponds with the
vision of the artist responsible for the album artwork. The cover shows
a forest populated by the faceless, other pieces of work depict a
lonely cabin, a scarecrow at a rotten fence, and plantlife, all heavily
distorted and presented in a brownish and bleak fashion.
The
music itself could be described as progressive death metal, the vocals
range from screaming to deep growls, staccato and legato. At first I
could not handle the sometimes abrupt changes in speed and weird vocal
patterns. I would wait for the few brutal parts you could headbang to
and maybe for the epic and slow, guitar solos. Slowly I would also
notice the subtle use of keyboards or rather their meaning within the
song structure. All in all, I drew comparisons to Nile for the death
metal, Enslaved for the progressive and late Emperor for some of the
vocals. Though, to be fair, as this music is unique, yet somehow
intimately familiar, I could just have been naming bands that evoke
similar emotions within myself.
What really
made me connect to the music though were the lyrics. The album is
divided into three parts, where the first, “Enclosure”, depicts a
depressing vision of living in our age. The first track, “Of Wires and
Lenses”, tells us about the motivations and implications of today's
rush to monitor every aspect of life. “Cage of Immaturity”, the most
interesting track of this first part defines the human condition as
living behind masks, caged, reminding of C.G. Jung's concept of ego
versus persona (which is only the modern expression knowledge present
in various traditions) and how this relates to the objective world.
While pretty depressing, the last verse offers a taste of the
possibility to free ourselves from this cage. “The Savage Plague”
illustrates another aspect of today’s western world, its sexual bigotry
and the hypocrisy of the clergy and the moral majority.
The
second chapter, “Transformation” is opened by an atmospheric
instrumental piece called “Metamorfine”, which starts with few guitars
and ends in piercing violins which lead to the crushing riffs of “Eye
am glowing Pulse”. Here we learn how to escape from the cage, “see it
rust and decay”, so we can become “bliss”, “illumination”, “the glowing
haze” and “feel total belief in perfect peace” (!). However, we will
only “reign the throne, until it will burn [us]”, because since there
still is an “I” which can experience the transcendence, it remains to
be devoured by the fire it has seen. This final resolution is
accompanied by epic riffing and soloing, haunting us with the knowledge
that the journey is not complete.
The
realization that sometime we are at the end is explored in the next
track, “The Sleep”. Motives from earlier in the album are recapitulated
and put into an even more esoteric, and cryptic, context. All paired
with brutal headbanging death metal that I so admire!
The
third and last chapter seamlessly takes over with the song “Exit”.
Musically, it starts out quite brutal but by the middle slows down
considerably and offers enticing drumming and liberating soloing, which
fits all too well lyrically. We are told of the final achievement,
becoming “nothing”, acquiring “eyes that see” and the freedom and
alienation this entails. “The Dead Eyed Sleeper Pt. 1 – The
Undercurrent” warns of the path backwards, of lying down after learning
how to fly. The final hypothesis is that existing itself means wearing
the mask, which is communicated by smothering metal and chaotic
structures.
The outro, “Outstripping The
Meander” is worthy of any classic horror movie, violins reminding us
that it is not over and maybe it will never be.
As
you can see, “Through Forests of Nonentities” is an album that entices
the willing listener not only with its masterful music, but also with
the sometimes cryptic (but still coherent) lyrics. It is a pleasure for
both the heart and the mind, it would be a shame to miss out on
something so intricate and rare.
Composed by Bollverk