Five the Hierophant – Over Phlegeton

Dark Essence Records – 2017

There's a rare breed of album which instantly becomes a cult classic, and I can confidently say Over Phlegeton is one of them. Experimental, weird, bizarre, none of these words come close to describing just how extraordinary and interesting this record is. If I had to draw parallels with another band, I'd say it's a heavier, more mature version of Mamaleek, with many similar elements such as the ethnic percussions or non-traditional scales, but with a much darker visage and more detailed composition.

There have been incredible avant-garde metal albums using unconventional instruments, but none have been so tactfully used as the saxophone is on Over Phlegeton. Played as a full instrument and not a token nod to some jazzy experimentation, Five the Hierophant explore the extremeties of what the sax can do – from screaming leads floating above the guitars to wailing voices in the wind, passing by heart shaking drones and almost accidental interventions. Other instruments were used during the recording, and I ended up giving Over Phlegeton the electronic music treatment, no longer trying to recognized what was being played and instead enjoying the soundscape for what it is.

Going from quasi-desert rock to pseudo thrash riffs, Five the Hierophant know how to construct an interesting, twisting album filled with surprises. The build-ups and bridges are good, and the climaxes are relentless and cathartic – no dynamics sound kitsch, and no two songs are similar in structure. As an artist, it's always difficult to assume the position of the consumer and hear from their ears, Five the Hierophant on the other hand understand how to use narrative structure. Songs are written with the same flow as individual riffs have, with great attention brought to timing and visceral reaction. Der Geist der stets verneint deserves a word as being what a macabre circus would sound like – an expected move given the saxophone, but well-executed.

The production of Over Phlegeton is incredible, with plays on panning and what sounds like a gigantic pedalboard warping the guitars into alien landscapes, harsh distorted tones or full drones. The kick drums have some variation, sometimes marking beats and sometimes acting as subwoofer-destroying blasts of bass like on the heavier section of Seafarer. Somehow, the producer managed to mix so many experimental elements without losing his mind, and created a musical beast of gigantic proportions, on par with the amazing Through the Mirror (2017 – Daymare Recordings) of Endon earlier this year.

Giuseppe Fitzsimmons

Comments

Sulphurous - Dolorous Death Knell

Sulphurous – Dolorous Death Knell December 2018 – Dark Descent Records 90s revival and cavernous death metal started gaining popularity about two years ago, with bands such as Phrenelith and Pissgrave being propelled into quasi-mainstream success thanks to a couple of public figures introducing their audiences to an otherwise relatively underground facet of death metal. Dark Descent Records have certainly capitalized on said revival, signing giants of the genre like Blood Incantation, Spectral Voice, and previously Chthe’ilist (and Mitochondrion to a certain degree). As with any other cavernous death metal record, the production is the first thing you’ll notice – it’s all suffocated, as if the amps were draped in thick curtains. Few effects and no triggers are applied to the drums, giving the whole package a very live/practice room aspect. Despite the apparent muddiness of Dolorous Death Knell, everything’s quite audible – even the lower registers somehow retain

Kataplexia – The Rise of the Unknown

Kataplexia – The Rise of the Unknown January 2019 – Rotten Music Kataplexia is Finland's best Indonesian brutal death metal band. You read that right, Indonesian is now a valid qualifier for brutal death metal. For those unaware, I explored and wrote about the Southeast Asian brutal death metal scene two years ago, discovering a gigantic scene with an uncharacteristic public acceptance. One of the members of Jasad began a side-project, Kaluman, which is the definition of high-quality Southeast Asian brutal death metal. A couple seconds into Kataplexia's latest, I expected to see Rottervore or Extreme Souls as their label, as every element pointed towards Indonesian origins – the tone, production, vocals, riffs and even album art all felt like Ferli Suferli (Jasad, Kaluman) was behind the project, yet Helsinki is listed as their base of operations. Admittedly, there's only so much one can actually say about the music without endless comparisons. A modern

Uboa, the interview

UG You’ve gone over the “Jouissance” title in the past. Would you mind going over Coma Wall? It’s got quite grave and final undertones. First, Coma Wall has no totalised meaning for me, but death of the author could suggest otherwise. But there are themes. The Coma Wall, also known as the CfA2 Great Wall, is a galactic filament - thread-like structures composed millions of galaxies - of and one of the largest structures in the observable universe. It’s 750 million ly high x 200 million ly in width x 16 million ly in thickness. There are few structures bigger than it before you get to the “End of Greatness”, where the universe no longer is seen in discernible structures (filaments and voids, which combined look awfully organic, almost like clusters of interconnected neurones) and you get undifferentiated noise, like static on a TV or white noise. Basically, in cosmology, there seems to be an upper limit to how big things get before the universe seems to become pure undifferentia

Undergrind Metal

Search This Blog