Subliminal Genocide

A lot of my favorite albums I hear for the first time are during emotional and grim times in my life. Whether it be I’m feeling just plain shitty or I feel like my stress and anger reach their peak, those are usually the times I emotionally get drawn to albums and feel attached to them. And “Subliminal Genocide” is the best example of this. An album that seems to perfectly capture those horrid thoughts and feelings I get from whatever shitty things are happening either around me or in my head at that current time. And it always seems to bring me out of that storm, which makes this album oddly comforting for me. This is one of the best if not THE best dsbm record I’ve ever heard.

First off this thing is the epitome of dsbm. This is what the run-of-the-mill generic dsbm bands think they sound like. The emotional energy of this album is something unique, and something that will fucking drown you throughout the entire album. Its slow-paced build from track to track, its wailing vocals, and everything that Malefic uses to his advantage create this deranged adventure known as “Subliminal Genocide”. As soon as you hit play it never loses momentum, everything serves the purpose of creating this utterly depressing experience that will truly leave you feeling exhausted. While other albums by Xasthur were more atmospheric and flirted with dsbm, this is the most dsbm Xasthur has ever gotten. I’m not saying previous releases weren’t dsbm, but this album in particular is pure nightmare fuel and depressing. One of the few albums in which I can say it has brought me to tears, specifically the iconic track “The Prison of Mirrors” which I’ll talk about later.

Production-wise it’s perfect for what Malefic is going for. The drums, the guitars, and the vocals are drenched in fuzziness. It's raw but not too raw to where you can’t make out individual sections or guitar riffs. The drums are extremely powerful here, the kick drums specifically are loud and in your face the entire time. Especially during double bass sections which will run over your skull with maximum efficiency. Nothing is fast here, which adds to the overall experience and depressing atmosphere. It takes its time dragging you through the depths of hell and forces you to confront the worst parts of your mind. It takes no prisoners and leaves no survivors. When you put on this record it wants you to feel hopelessly defeated, it wants you to be overwhelmed and pummeled to the ground. It exposes your inner demons for what they really are. And this is why I have such a connection to this record. I feel like I can relate to some of these depressing elements and it makes me feel like I’m not completely alone. And like I stated earlier it’s oddly comforting.

Malefic’s vocals truly peak on this album. His vocals are extremely deranged and inhuman, reaching the highest of wails and the angriest of screams. This is what every black metal vocalist in the present times should strive for. A very powerful voice that will truly hit your listeners in the fucking throat and in the soul. To fully captivate their attention and hearts. Only a few bands have come close to having vocals that sound this sorrowful and powerful. But Malefic’s voice is unquestionably one of the greatest things that black metal has ever seen in my opinion. And this all makes perfect sense considering Malefic (Scott Connor) is a very troubled individual. What exactly he’s gone through nobody really knows as he’s extremely protective of his personal identity and life. But with how his vocals sound on here I can only think that he’s gone through some very rough and painful. Just read along to the lyrics and song titles and you’ll see what I mean.

This album is extremely creative and dynamic. It’s a perfect storm of depressive black metal and swirling ambient music. While also doing nothing necessarily groundbreaking. This album is filled with ambient interludes that are filled with depressing guitars that are bleak and dissonant. When it comes to the black metal tracks you know immediately that it’s Xasthur. The approach is very simplistic and mid-paced, there’s not a single fast-paced moment here. But it doesn’t need to be over complicated or complex, the slow and mid-paced approach allows for the emotions and atmosphere to truly sink their sharp teeth into your skin. And when they bite down you best believe they aren’t letting go until you’re done with the whole album.

One of my favorite songs on here is “Beauty is Only Razor Deep”. A very interesting track that fleshes out the depression of this album well, especially around the middle section where Malefic uses what I think is a guitar phaser pedal. Don’t quote me on that but whatever he uses with his guitar around the 2:37 mark of the song is spine-chilling. Another great song is “Trauma Will Always Linger” (where I got my profile name from). It starts off especially bleak with a slow beginning following a very painful shriek. Both of these songs have wonderful moments and memorable hooks, drowning you in sorrow and the darkest areas of the human mind. This record also balances out the interludes and the actual black metal songs really well. It flows perfectly and nothing is awkward or rushed.

When it comes to the guitars they dominate this album. This album is littered and filled with pummeling tremolo riffs and somewhat clean open notes. They are incredibly fuzzy and noisy, allowing for their droning sound to really break your soul down to its core. Each song contains a memorable riff or hook that draws you into the music and atmosphere. It’s all killer and no filler as each song is just as satisfying as the rest. Some other great songs are the title track, “Arcane and Misanthropic Projection”, and “Through a Trance of Despondency”.

However, while all these songs are great. There is ONE song that stands above the rest. One of the greatest black metal songs and in my opinion Xashur's most iconic and emotionally charged song. That is of course “The Prison of Mirrors”. Holy hell what a masterpiece of a song this is. It encapsulates everything great about dsbm and Xasthur in general.

Right away it’s incredibly depressing with its opening sequence of double bass and ominous guitar tremolos. It builds upon this with some of Malefic’s most painful screams and vocals he’s ever done. This song is very slow, as it builds up incredibly slowly as the song drags on but doesn’t feel rushed. It does everything this album does perfectly and ups it to the max. Around the 2:01 mark, everything suddenly cuts out, allowing for one of the most soul-crushing riffs to truly leave its ugly mark on you. When I first started religiously listening to this record I found it hard not to shed at least one tear each time I heard it. After a bit, it kicks back into what it was doing previously by adding layer upon layer. And from there it kicks off for a majority of the song. The riffs are perfect, the drums are slow yet menacing, and the vocals make this a very overwhelming experience. At points, it reaches its peak and it’s hard to keep composure as I would cry a lot at how depressing and pummeling it became at points. To me, that peak is reached when you get to the 5:01 mark of the song. When it introduces a brand new riff to the song along with a very long scream from Malefic.

With it being 12 minutes long it keeps your attention the entire way. It’s not boring whatsoever as it adds new things as the song continues on, whether it be a new riff or switching up the drums it always feels fresh and engaging. It also ends perfectly with almost 3 minutes of ambiance. Cutting off the music perfectly.

Overall this is a miserable album that speaks to me emotionally and musically. As to what I prefer this or the debut I’ll probably have to go with the debut Xasthur album for nostalgia purposes. But this album is definitely my second favorite album by Xasthur. If you’re looking for something that’ll challenge you emotionally, musically, and spiritually. Listen to this album because it’ll blow your mind into oblivion. A pure masterpiece from front to back.

Another trip down memory lane, another story time: I used to be this kid high on depression due to having autism and girls being able to see them from a mile away, so as a result I was bullied... a lot. And one day I heard that DSBM is an actual genre and decided to get some depressive therapy and suicide fuel, and Prison of Mirrors was the first result. The One Man Metal documentary also helped me get into DSBM.

They say that the most creative works come from the most demented minds, and I agree with this when it comes to Xasthur. Malefic is known to be a really misanthropic individual, and it shows, as no one personifies their lyrics about isolation and despair like him. His music is truly one of a kind, endless walls of guitars and mournful keyboards, topped off by drawn out, pained screams that sound nothing like Nattramn or Kim Carlsson.

I've always said that DSBM is not this mythical genre of evil where they can persuade someone into self-harm or suicide (despite being in the name), but instead it is a really versatile genre where it can serve as a therapy for sorrowful souls, or be the musical equivalent of white noise to meditate yourself to. It is because of this reason that at one point in high school I listened to nothing but DSBM, hoping the despair-inducing wall of noise could finally coax myself to end my life, but I did not. Subliminal Genocide shows this very well, in fact it might be one of the best DSBM records precisely due to this reason, while keeping the usual DSBM characteristics like long, drawn out and droning riffs, Xasthur also incorporated some diversity in this album, making every song feel different and familiar simultaneously.

The album begins with a dark ambient-y synth intro before transitioning into Prison of Mirrors, this song immediately blasts you with the signature wall of guitars that Xasthur is known for that sucks out every bit of happiness you feel, forcing you to listen to this album with the intended mood that Malefic had in mind. This kind of composition is honestly genius, making the listener listen to your album on your own terms. I don't know how many albums utilize this technique, but holy shit is it rare and very satisfying when you hear an album that does this.

The songwriting here is similar to most DSBM projects (or one man DSBM but I have never heard of another DSBM project where more than one man handles the instruments, besides Lifelover), a drawn out riff that spans the entire song regardless of song length, and simple, droning drums that you swear are done by a machine due to how simple they are. The entire thing mixes clean keyboard/ambient parts and harsh guitar walls, the duality of these parts makes both sound more distinct thanks to the contrasting, enhancing the atmosphere and emotion of misanthropy and despair in the music. Everything is covered in a layer of noise to make sure it blurs out the instruments just enough to create this dreadful and depressing soundscape and make the simple droning riffs hit harder than they are supposed to be.

The vocals and lyrics here are absolutely unhinged and demented, and as I mentioned at the top of the review, Malefic is pretty demented himself when it comes to world views and approach to music. His vocals have this raw and unfiltered misanthropy and hatred that is unmatched by any other DSBM project, with the closest equivalent being Dragged Into Sunlight, but both kinds of misanthropy are in very different spectrums so the context and meaning differs greatly between both projects. It is very oppressive, suffocating, and the negativity within can pierce the listening device and driven straight into the listener, and the production seems to support this, as the vocals are pushed to the very front, making sure the vocals will be as loud and powerful as the listening device allows it, while the instruments are mere backing pieces to this misanthropy exhibition. As for the lyrics, well, just read this line from Prison of Mirrors:

You are all... all that you hate,
Force fed memories, suffer humiliation,
Victim of darkness, of the inner hidden kind,
I am the eye within the gleam,
Shatter before a mirror that stares into (a shallow soul).

Damn, this really hit hard when I first read it, it perfectly encapsulates what self-loathing is like: hating every aspect of yourself, and being willing to do everything to make yourself to never resemble who you are now, even if it means taking your own life. Maybe Malefic had similar experiences that led him to create this uniquely dark and depressing piece of work to express his Hatred For Mankind (get it?).

I firmly believe that every genre exists for a reason, and no matter how small it is, there will be a crowd for that genre. DSBM is no different, it is a music for those with miserable souls, or are in miserable circumstances. And if you are among those people, this album might be just for you, and hope you will get a better life, be it in the future, or in the next life.

Damn I was such a wuss... At least until I snapped (read the Holy Grail review for context).

Highlight: The Prison of Mirrors, Trauma Will Always Linger, Malice Hidden In Surrealism

I've never really given a DSBM record a full listen before. I have this pre-conceived notion of the subgenre containing mostly obnoxious production with bloated song-lengths and pretentious subject matter. However, this album has given me a very good impression of what DSBM can be. Firstly, I think that the moniker itself of this style of music being "depressive" and "suicidal" is misleading and may unfortunately turn people away from giving it a chance. Sure, the music generally may be emotional and dark, and this may be subjective, but I personally have never felt that records like these make me want to commit suicide or do harm to myself or other people.

Instead, I've realised that DSBM (when it's done right) is a very volatile style of music that can be healing when the listener is in a negative mood, and meditative when the listener is in a positive mood. What I mean by this is that in most cases, the subgenre doesn't impose negativity, but instead suggests it, which can be very evocative and addicting, and possibly the main reason as to why this genre is slowly growing on me. Why am I detailing this on this specific release? Because; I feel that Subliminal Genocide is at least the most obvious example of my point about DSBM, and that this album specifically presents this very well.

As for the songwriting itself, it is very characteristic of one-man black metal; extremely repetitive, melancholy, sinister and lengthy. However, Malefic does this better than most; and the riffs that he presents in Subliminal Genocide for the most part is very emotional. He utilises synths and distorted arpeggios to contribute to the unhinged and chaotic sound, which results in the songs being very dynamic and charming. The intro is particularly interesting, as the haunting synth choir slowly crescendos into the epic opener that is The Prison of Mirrors, an exceptional example of how to create drawn-out black metal that entices the listener with only a single riff that is ornamented effectively.

Additionally, this track foreshadows the structure that dominates most of the album; a riff that is drawn out across an entire 6< minute song. Although this is very enjoyable and entrancing, it can be quite boring and drag on sometimes. With that being said, there is a nice mixture of distorted, esoteric parts and clean, unsettling sections which again contribute to the atmosphere and improve the experience. Of course, the nature of the music is very solitary and misanthropic, but never one-dimensional or overblown like a lot of similar records. The clean guitars mixed with the layer of noise and distortion makes the music very typical of the genre, but instead of being generic, this actually enhances the mixture of aggression and emotion of the music, which is what makes this album so memorable.

The production is something that needs to be brought up. As I stated earlier, a lot of DSBM suffers from compressed, static-heavy production that is grating on the ears and ruins an otherwise extremely compelling atmopshere. Subliminal Genocide defies this, as the production oddly sounds cold and simultaneously warm; the heavy use of noise never overpowers the music, but instead makes tracks such as Beauty Is Only Razor Deep and Arcane And Misanthropic Projection more powerful. Overall, Subliminal Genocide is an interesting release, and one that I would recommend as an introduction to this category of black metal. While the music itself is not spectacular, there is a melancholy and alluring sense of ambience that makes this album a very good listen.

Depressive Suicidal Black Metal (or DSBM for short) is certainly a genre that took me a long time to grasp. It's cold, isolationist, and introverted nature was a huge leap from what I had come to expect having a bit of experience with black metal as a genre and its representation within the metal world. While black metal itself is tapered to draw in some of the craziest people whose beliefs can be about as extreme as you can get, DSBM also tends to lure in a very specific group of people. It draws in withdrawn, sad, hurting, creative individuals. I say individuals because most bands within the genre are usually administrated by just one person. Occasionally there may be session musicians hired here and there to provide more instrumentation or help provide a conduit for expanding the atmosphere, though, 90% of the time, one person is handling every single aspect of the production of their band.

Silencer was my first exposure to the sub-genre, but because I was so new to black metal at the time, I immediately discarded it as unlistenable dreck. I never looked back for a long time. I remained content with my Mayhem, my Emperor, and my Darkthrone. Very safe havens for a newbie like me who was too afraid to branch out into this new world of depression and sadness brandished like a serrated knife to the flesh, whet with the desire to shed its own blood instead of mine. Some years later, I grew experienced enough to take the plunge into the gloomy world of DSBM. Funnily enough, my ongoing battle with anxiety and depression fuel my appreciation for these sad, morbid melodies.

Xasthur is one such band that I grew to appreciate. The now defunct one-man band formerly headed by Malefic (a.k.a. Scott Conner) lured me in with this album. At the time, which was maybe ten months ago, I couldn't resist the allure to actually own a physical version of something like this in my music collection. I snatched it up at one of the record stores I frequent and put it on my music player immediately. I already knew what to expect as bands like Make a Change... Kill Yourself, Fornicatus, Shining, Happy Days, Thy Light, Strid, along with the aforementioned Silencer just a name a few, had already firmly established in my memory their buzzing riffs, fuzzy production, and soul tormenting vocals as something to use as a benchmark going forward with this band.

Safe to say I was not disappointed. In fact, I was quite impressed. Subliminal Genocide is just as ugly, blighted, and woe begotten as the artwork that adorns the front of the CD case. The songs within, all eleven of them, are all equally tortured anthems to despondency, isolation, depression, and pure unadulterated contempt for everything that draws breath. There is no light at the end of this tunnel. A moment of respite, nor a brief glimmer of sunshine can't hope to be found as songs like "The Prison of Mirrors" and "Arcane and Misanthropic Projections" work their mastery in convincing the listener the best way to achieve any solace from the pain is to, well, you know. Definitely the listener won't be feeling very good as soon as the album begins with a sinister piano melody that channels directly from the most bottomless abyss not of this world, nor of any other world beyond the reaches of Malefic's twisted genius of an imagination; and by the time the album closes, that void will have already consumed the listener whole in otherworldly sorrows.

As far as the instruments go, everything is covered in fuzz. Like with Leviathan, drums are handled with an electronic drum kit with certain parts being programmed. The guitar riffs on this album are incredibly minimal and repetitive. In fact, there's only a small handful of structures that make up the guitar compositions. They're repetitive to the point of being unlistenable but, honestly, that's the point. The riffs Xasthur creates are memorable and, in a sense, put you in a trance. To the ear not tempered for black metal already, these riffs will feel noisy, grating, unapproachable, and unlistenable. However, they're quite the opposite to someone deeply entrenched and well-versed in the genre. These riffs are insanely memorable and are composed with careful precision. The bass is obviously buried behind the foggy production and the guitars that are can be a little loud here and there. That's something that's common with metal as a whole, though. Here is no different. Malefic's vocals are, without a doubt, the loudest and most powerful force here. They are deliberately so pushed to the fore. Utterly suffocating. Dripping with malice. Seething with hatred. Unmasked disgust. They are raw, powerful, and punishing, seemingly sounding as if Malefic is screaming directly at the listener through the speakers (or through headphones).

The absolute best songs aren't hard to accidentally stumble across, in my opinion. "The Prison of Mirrors," "Trauma Will Always Linger," the title track, and the closer, "Malice Hidden in Surrealism," stand out as the gems here. Every song is good and worth your time. These four, however, are the ones I'd choose as the best songs to best represent this album and, probably, Xasthur itself. I know there's far more of this band to explore and just these four songs are probably not the best representations of what others might consider the absolute best this band has to offer. Besides, there are dozens of songs of Xasthur scattered out there among his discography. There might be ones better than these four or any of the ones I didn't mention on Subliminal Genocide. Who knows? I'm new to this band's work as a listener. I've got more digging to do.

While metal isn't for everyone, almost every genre of metal, even black metal, has something made for someone. DSBM is made for no one. It's a creation made by the broken, the isolated, the lonely, the wistful thinker, the contemplative soul, the tortured artist who makes art only they can enjoy, served cold on a plate formed of the shattered pieces of what used to be their own dreams and aspirations, to themselves. However, even the blackest, most oppressive art can be found beautiful, and even welcoming to kindred spirits. Xasthur accomplishes this task by making art that appeals to me, This album speaks to me in my darkest hours. When I'm feeling shitty, when the world is on my shoulders and I feel like giving up, when I feel like nobody hears me, when I feel like there's nothing that sounds or feels the way I feel, all I have to do is turn on this album and I feel better. Or worse. It all depends. It's just good to know somewhere out there in this dark, dead world, there's someone who can put exactly how I feel into song, regardless if I'm the only other one who can stomach its sound.

You know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.


Favorite tracks:
"The Prison of Mirrors"
"Trauma Will Always Linger"
"Subliminal Genocide"
"Malice Hidden in Surrealism"

Whenever I feel depressed, this is always the album I go to first to cry my heart out. This album has always had a place in my heart and of all the depressive black metal I listen to, I find myself listening to this album the most. The instrumentation is a bit simple, yet for Xasthur's style, this album feels a bit more unique in my opinion. It's slow and depressing, just as it should be. It kind of reminds me of Burzum's early stuff.

The distorted guitar tone sounds like it has a lot more treble and mids than bass. However, that is to be expected when it comes to black metal. The clean guitar tone seems to have the same set up. Each chord and riff that Malefic plays is depressive and emotional. The bass is very hard to hear most of the time. In fact, for a while, I didn't think he even put bass in the album, but eventually after listening extremely close, I was able to hear it. That's really my only complaint with this album: the bass is too quiet.

Xasthur's vocals are always awesome to listen to. You can really feel the emotion in his voice. Malefic likes to drag out most of the words he says and it really adds an atmosphere. It almost makes the vocals seem like another instrument. I can also tell that his vocals are barely edited, which means he is a legitimately good vocalist.

Another thing I love about this album are the song titles. Some people might just think they're edgy, but as someone who struggles with mental health, I can understand and appreciate the song titles. I feel like they help even more to give the album the dark feel that it has. I'm usually not into metal music that involves keyboards. Xasthur is the only exception for that. Out of all the other Xasthur albums, I feel confident that this particular one is Malefic's best work out of anything he's ever done.

This album is very formulaic and sounds about the same as To Violate The Oblivious. However, I feel that out of Xasthur albums that follow this formula, Subliminal Genocide does it best for sure. My favorite track would definitely have to be The Prison Of Mirrors, because I feel like that is the most depressive track on the album.

I first discovered Xasthur, and the DSBM genre as a whole, when I was at the tender age of 14. Now as an 18 year old and still listening to this album on a damn near daily basis, I can easily say that this is the best Xasthur record, and also a contender for the best DSBM record ever made.

This album, and most DSBM albums, aren’t really something that you can appreciate upon a first or even second listen. It’s an acquired taste. However if you’re going to start your musical ventures into the over-saturated shit fest that is modern depressive black metal, start with Subliminal Genocide. Anything released after this record from Xasthur and other depressive black metal projects wish they could surpass or equal the greatness that is this album.

The atmosphere this album creates is beyond eerie and at times truly sends chills down my spine. Something that I feel as though none of the later Xasthur albums could even come close to doing after maybe a third or fourth listen. I’ve listened to this album hundreds of times, and it still makes me feel uneasy. The reverb drenched vocals from Malefic are truly ghoulish, and the growling synths and guitars are monstrous.

The best track in particular has to be the masterpiece, “Prison of Mirrors.” The almost symphonic opening is something that isn’t often mentioned when discussing the genre, but is something that I feel as though any self respecting DSBM enthusiast should subject themselves to. Melody galore with the dissonant tremolo picked guitar chords that are commonly found in black metal, but constructed in such a way that sets it apart from typical black metal. It’s not something that can easily be explained, but once the blast beats and choir noses start, with the agonizing screams of Malefic, one can understand why this song is such a gem.

As is typical with all black metal subgenres, and subgenres as a whole, there are elements that sound similar to other bands/songs/albums. Harsh production quality, screeching vocals, augmented guitar chords, it’s cookie cutter black metal material. But this album, along with Malefic’s previous Xasthur material, has this undertone that sets it apart from other black metal artists. The generic satanism themes are emitted, Malefic dropped the corpse paint, and isolates himself from society in real life. With all of those elements combined, plus a background in death metal and what one would call “classic” black metal, what you have is the product of an individual who has gone through so much shit in their life and pours out all the built up anger, depression, and hatred into 11 songs. And it makes for an an all killer, no filler, stone cold DSBM record.

Those who dislike this album may subjectively have bad taste in the genre as a whole, as this is easily the strongest Xasthur release since the beginning with Nocturnal Poisoning. Fuck what the elitists and hipsters say. Subliminal Genocide is a jaw droppingly good DSBM record, and a jaw droppingly good black metal record in general.

When thinking all of the Burzum followers, I scratch my head and cringe. Not only because they all disgust me. Hell, even Burzum disgusts me but rather that they all try and fail to follow the same formula that Xasthur has mastered better than any other black metal project. When taking Xasthur's overall sound into heavy consideration, there is no better example than Subliminal Genocide. This album introduced me to Xasthur and is my favorite along with Defective Epitaph.

Let's start off with the atmosphere. The entire album contains disharmonious, sardonic melodies which is typical Xasthur. Though, in an intriguing sense of irony, it's not as lo-fi as you may come to expect from this genre but that's ok. The guitars do a fine job of that instead. In all seriousness, this has to be arguably Xasthur's ultimate release. "Prison of Mirrors" is the song that introduced me to Xasthur and to this day I believe it to be Malefic's trademark song. The song is beautifully demented and soul-crushingly, devastatingly depressing.

Malefic's vocals more than anything are what helped the album blossom over into this beautiful jet, black thorn-filled flower. They sound like distanced forest howls. I think what separates Malefic's howls from typical, standard, black metal howls is the fact that when hearing these vocals, it never sounds as if he's in front of you: They always sound distanced and echo-esque. Almost as if he's recording in a forest. I really enjoy his vocals to say the least.

Overall, this is what I love to hear from Xasthur. This Xasthur album will objectively stand the test of time for better or for worse (we'll never know due to Xasthur being done in a sense) but this is what will keep Xasthur fresh in my head. I recommend this to anyone who wishes to rot with the music for this is one of the finest black metal albums.

Stand-out track: All of them

Xasthur is a band that is spoken of a lot in the black metal community. While this project does garner a lot of positive attention, it seems that more people are displeased with this project. Malefic has created a very unique style of depressive black metal, and I dare say Xasthur was in a genre of its own. I enjoy every single album he has put out up to this point. He was very consistent in releasing new material, and "Subliminal Genocide" is his fifth album, released in 2006. An album that radiates nothing but pure depression and darkness, this is the pinnacle of Xasthur's career in my opinion.

"Disharmonic Convergence" is the album's intro track. This is pretty standard for Xasthur. The goal of this introduction is to paint a picture for the listener as they begin their descent into this album, and it is a very dark picture indeed. The guitars on this album are used to create a literal wall of sound. They are insanely distorted and fuzzy, and work very well with the disharmonic, dissonant melodies that are heard throughout the album. "The Prison of Mirrors", the first real song on the album, is also probably the best song Xasthur has released to date. It is a slow, depressing, almost funeral doom-esque piece that clocks in at nearly 13 minutes in length. This song is absolutely repetitive and dark, giving the listener a very good idea what Xasthur is all about. In fact, I recently heard this song in a nightmare I was having. Xasthur's music literally sounds like nightmare music and due to this recent experience of mine, that is a very accurate description. " Arcane and Misanthropic Projection" is another song that I often hit replay on over and over again. This is some of the most horrifically beautiful music Xasthur has ever created.

The production Malefic used on this album is cleaner than what we experienced on the six previous albums, including the "A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors" demo. It's still very raw and fuzzy, but here, it sounds like Malefic has upped the sound quality quite a bit. Actually, this is probably the cleanest Xasthur album in terms of production. The three full-lengths released after "Subliminal Genocide" revert back to the production values of the previous albums which still sound great, but here, everything is louder and more "in your face". The guitars really benefit from this, and that aforementioned wall of sound is even more sinister.

There is a lot of music to be heard on this album. Xasthur is known for packaging quite a lot of music in his releases, and this one is no exception. It contains 11 tracks and with a total runtime of 71 minutes, this is a mammoth of an album. This may be seen as a hindrance to some people as an album this repetitive and minimal can tend to drag on endlessly, but before any given musical idea becomes stale, Xasthur moves onto a new one. This is the kind of black metal album to put on as background noise when laying in bed staring at the ceiling, or when you are sitting alone in a forest at night. This is where Xasthur hit its peak, and will forever be one of my favorite albums in black metal, as well as my definite favorite album by Xasthur.

"Subliminal Genocide" may have eleven separate tracks, each one with its own title and lyrics that revolve around a particular topic, but it's probably best heard as one whole work: the Xasthur project is as much about creating and sustaining an atmosphere, and through that making a statement about life and existence, how hard and meaningless everything seems, and most importantly giving its listeners the knowledge that they're not alone in feeling confused about these issues.

The Xasthur sound is the best thing about "Subliminal Genocide": it is a dark rich sound, decadent and jewel-like in this reviewer's opinion, and if handled well it can suggest derangement leading to utter madness. Some hint of this appears in "The Prison of Mirrors", especially in the later part of the song where key changes in the instrumental section indicate a mind descending into deep suicidal depression. Unfortunately main man Malefic sticks strictly to a minimalist song structure when it comes to writing and recording music so each and every track is repetitive and features one or two major looping riffs. This wouldn't be a bad thing if Malefic had a gift for tossing off catchy and memorable riffs or melodies like an assembly line cheap paddle-pop sticks. As it is, a few songs have good riffs but the others are very so-so. This throws the burden of listeners' expectations onto other aspects of the music like sound and how it is layered, vocals, lyrics, rhythm and atmosphere. While the guitar sound is very raw and sharp around the edges, and there is no other raw black metal act that sounds quite like Xasthur, as the album progresses the guitar seems to deteriorate into formless bland noise droning. Rhythms vary hardly at all and are of no use whatsoever in emphasising emotions like hostility or aggression, or pushing songs forward and giving them a sense of direction. The vocals are so far back in the mix and distorted that in some songs they nearly merge with the guitars or the rhythms. The use of synthesisers to create particular moods and ambience is not very original.

The best tracks include the two moody instrumentals "Disharmonic Convergence" and "Pyramid of Skulls", the depressive and self-hating "Prison of Mirrors", and the brooding and rather Gothic "Arcane and Misanthropic Projection" which is the only song that has much variation in its rhythms.

There's a lot of potential in this album to be much greater than it is and at the very least Malefic could have had a guest musician on drums or programming the percussion much better than what appears here. At this time of writing, I hadn't heard very much of Xasthur's music but this being the fifth album in the Xasthur corpus, if it represents progression from "Nocturnal Poisoning", which I've reviewed also for MA, I'd hate to think what the albums in-between are like.

Most people involved in the black metal scene think that american BM sounds rather weak and uninspired. They say it carries no spirit and sounds uncreative. While I can agree that some typical american black metal bands are really like this, I think acts like Xasthur make a big big exception. This sombre one-man music project of Scott "Malefic" Conner plays dark and surreal ambient black metal which lets the listener submerge deeply in a dark dreamworld...


This release, the 2006 full-lenght Subliminal Genocide, is in my honest opinion one of the best thing ever from Xasthur. The songs are carrying various feelings and atmospheres: While tracks like Trauma will Always Linger and the clean instrumentual Loss and Inner Distortion are sounding rather melancholic and a bit dreamy, you also can feel pure hatred blazing from tracks like Victim of your Dreams and the title-track.
A short description about Xasthurs sound on this album: the guitars are really dominant and most of the time heavily distorted. The vocals of Malefic sound like screamed exhales and they give the whole album a real haunted, psychedelic and cold touch. The bass plays a nice rythm and even has a short solo in the sixth song, Arcane and Misanthropic Projection. Keyboard tunes are mostly piano-like and blend nicely into the songs instead of adding too much bombastical sounds. Unfortunately, the drums are programmed ones. Not that I blame Malefic for using a drum computer to play the drumlines, since almost nobody with a one-man band has the money to spend for a good acoustic drumset. But I personally think that a good real drumsound would have made some tracks a bit better. Anyways, he has programmed the drum machine at least a bit better than most other bands which use such things.


Another big point about this release are the instrumentuals. They bring a nice fresh wind in this release and actually carry a lot of dark atmosphere. The intro Disharmonic Convergence and the track Pyramid of Skulls are giving off a real psychedelic and surreal sound, which makes Xasthur kinda unique in my eyes. Overall, the production of the album is good, better than the usual one-man project sound which gives off the feeling like it has been recorded in a bedroom or a garage. But not too clear, otherwise the sound would get lost a bit in my opinion. So, overall, well-balanced production. The songwriting is very creative, since Malefic uses a lot of opportunities to create those dark soundscapes which he is famous for. The only thing that really bothered me was the liquer-store entry-sound during the song Trauma will always Linger, otherwise he has used all "unusual" sounds reall good and fitting.


Now lets talk about the negative things. I already mentoined the drum sound, which is sometimes a bit weak and the annoying noise during Trauma will always Linger. Well, another thing which seems a bit annoying to me is that Malefic decided to put a little break of 6 seconds between each song. Don't get me wrong, Xasthurs music is hard to digest and a small break for about 3-4 seconds would have benn perfectly ok with me. But six seconds?


Overall, this album is really good in my opinion. You get everything you except from Xasthur, the dark and surreal soundscapes and the unique exhale-vocals. As for the lyrics, they come off to be quite poetic and unusual. For some reason, I have the feeling that the song Trauma will always Linger is about sexual abuse by parents("Which father do you feel?"), and they are really thoughtful.


So to say, I'd recommend the album to everyone who likes Xasthur and to ambient BM enthusiasts which want to try something new. Xasthur offers a really unique and sombre sound and really activates your imagination once you got into the music. But beware: Xasthur is a quite controversial band which you either like or hate. If you dislike melancholic, surreal tones and ambient BM and rather prefer raw BM you should better stay away from Xasthurs music.

For everyone who is familiar with the genre of 'Depressive Black Metal' or 'Suicidal Black Metal' Xasthur is a band whose name you hear a lot.

To be really honest I'm not really into America's black metal scene, and I have never been. But in the mass of waste, you sometimes encounter a diamond, and this diamond is Xasthur's 'Subliminal Genocide'.

It's very hard to describe the atmosphere around this album. The melodies are quite simple, yet so intense. I really like the sound from this album in combination with the music. The recordings are very raw, yet you can hear every note on every instrument.

Malefic, like usual, makes use of a drumcomputer on this album. Wich is not disturbing, not at all, the sound is pretty good, but if you're really focussing on the drums, you really hear the robotic monotone, sounds from especially the crashes. Now, this is not disturbing at all to me. As I stated earlier, the drums sound good overall, especially when you listen to the combination of all the instruments.

So, about the vocals; I really enjoy Malefic's vocals, they sound very intense, full of suffering, hate and negativity, just as they should. They really are the top of the mountain on this album. I still find it really hard to describe this album, it's so damn good.

Close your eyes, listen to this music. Let yourself go, pulled further and further into the darkness of Xasthur. The ground under your feet intense, yet tender. With every step, pounding sounds. This will be the drums from the album. As you walk further in this world, you feel icecold winds getting over and under your skin, sharp and cold tones impale your ears. The wind is the guitar from this album. Look around you, you will see nothing but dead, lost, forgotten land. You can only see the things that once was described as 'life'. As you realise, in what kind of a lost, sad, desolate land you are, you feel lost, without any hope. And that, is how the vocals sound.

I think that somewhere, that would be fitting.

For those who are unfamiliar with California, USA’s Xasthur, they are a band that solely consists of Malefic (Scott Connor) and for the better part of 8 years have been pounding fans with their brand of “Suicidal Black Metal” through a variety of EPs, split albums and full lengths.

To the uninitiated, Xasthur are very similar to Burzum in many ways but mix this primitive black metal sound with heavy atmospherics that are highly reminiscent of those of funeral doom. In fact Xasthur are essentially a cross between Burzum and Denmark’s Nortt. What you end up with is a lot of heavily distorted guitars that play dissonant melodies against a thick backdrop of synths, tortured screaming vocals and a simple but effective drum machine.

I am by no means an Xasthur expert but from my previous encounters with his work I can’t see that a lot has changed since those albums and frankly I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It is refreshing to hear a band once in a while that makes you want to slit your wrists because of its unrelenting nihilistic bleakness.

The one thing that Subliminal Genocide has that previous works lack is a slightly less lo-fi production. It is still murky and is like rattling around in a tin can at times but it is noticeably better than on previous works. Hopefully Malefic won’t continue to improve the production values with his later works because a large part of the claustrophobic atmosphere on his albums comes directly from the budget basement productions he utilises.

With 11 songs that reach a total of 71 minutes it is always going to be highly likely that there will be a few moments where your attention wanes. This is the case at times with the odd riff or 2 not really differing too much from the riffs around them, but the high points easily outweigh the lows with songs such as The Prison of Mirrors, Arcane and Misanthropic Projection and Victim of Your Dreams being perfect examples.

Malefic’s sense of and implementation of melody is what really makes Subliminal Genocide’s high points happen. These riffs and melodies are often extremely simplistic in nature which is why they are so effective. There are no attempts at artiness.

There isn’t a lot of scope for fence sitting with Xasthur. They are a band that will either rise to the top of your collection or will be relegated to the bottom, but whatever the case turns out to be they are a band that has to be experienced if only because there are so few bands that do what they do and do it as well as they do.

Previously submitted to http://www.themetalforge.com

Xasthur is the Iron Maiden of black metal. They are both among the pioneers of their respective sub-genres and release quality music that hardly changes from one release to the next. Thus, chances are that if you like one of Xasthur's albums you will like them all. And probably the Xasthur release that you hear first will remain your favourite. I heard "The Funeral of Being" first and, unsurprisingly, this is still my favourite among Xasthur's album. If I had started with "Subliminal Genocide", it would most likely be my favourite instead.

So, as you probably have guessed, "Subliminal Genocide" is a carbon copy of "To Violate the Oblivious", which is a clone of "Telepathic with the Deceased", and so on. Surely, musically it's very good to excellent but it also seems to be almost completely pointless. How many more dissonant intros, layered guitar lines, distorted vocals and programmed drums arranged into interchangeable sombre compositions can you bear? Remaining true to one's style is alright, but unfortunately, on this album Xasthur crosses the line between consistency and redundancy.

As much as I admit that I do like Malefic's music, I must also emphasize that I find neither this nor any of his other albums depressive. Yes, his music is solemn, rather sad and at times majestic but to call it depressive would be an exaggeration. The whole 'depressive black metal' label seems to me nothing more than a gimmick to draw listeners who look for a more introspective side to black metal. But making me depressed or putting suicidal thoughts into my head? No, this is totally out of the question.

To be fair, "Subliminal Genocide" does indeed differ from the previous releases a tiny bit. The production is thicker and fits the music better than ever before, the drum programming and its sound are also better, adding a substantial amount of dynamics, in comparison to previous releases. I also like the vocals, although they are a bit too high in the mix. The rest is exactly the same as it before.

There is, however, one track on the album which proves that using the usual components creatively, Malefic can make something that does stand out, even if it is not exactly groundbreaking. The track is "Arcane and Misanthropic Projection". How is it different from your typical Xasthur fare? Well, there's some clever dynamics applied here, and the different parts of the song flow into each other seamlessly. It also has more interesting riffs and more tempo changes than usually. Plus there's the atmosphere. Simply put, this song shows that Malefic is indeed able to develop his style.

So, for the music itself I would give the album about 85%. But I've heard it all before and I'm beginning to feel bored, hence the note. But if you can't get enough of this style, get this album, you won't be disappointed.

...but what is great about this album is that it has no fillers unlike the majority of earlier releases. That being said, I still don't think this is an essentially impressive album nor is it a shocking sudden turning point.

It seems as if "Subliminal Genocide" was only created to be given new track names and another paycheck in the hands of the saddened existence known as "Malefic"- (I'll explain later on in the review). Of course behind the music lies it's own individualistic significances, that's nice and everything, but like a light bulb there is a time when it must go out and should be replaced with something new and more refreshing. If this is exactly what your looking for I advise you to look elsewhere. If you buy it.. it may end in regret in the long run.. or just another deleted file from your computer.

I don't totally hate Xasthur to the point were I'd want to drive all the way to Alhambra so I can run over it's creator's ass and gut his carcass from the inside-out, in fact, I do truly enjoy a few good sombre Xasthur releases to be honest; A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors, The Funeral Of Being, and some of the split albums with Leviathan and Nortt. Atmospheric and ambient music could be looked at in two ways: tremendously original or wrongfully inspiring, whether it be dark and suicidal or calm and tranquil... Still, this just goes to show that Connor should've stopped this idea before he thought it up (if that makes sense). There are times within a song when extra noises and screeching pickups aren't needed for transitions; specifically in Beauty Is Only Razor Deep and during the sudden acceleration in Arcane And Misanthropic Projection.

I honestly believe that "Subliminal Genocide" was made just to make a few more bucks, to whatever amount, and jumping into Hydra Head Records' lap was a bit of an obvious strategy; which is likely to be one reason why this particular release will see major disappointment from those who have listened to Xasthur in the past.

Times like these I wish this Xasthur project had a real drummer, so that this one-man band would gain much more credibility; along the lines of having a great amount of real consistency for such recognizable music. By then the work itself can be looked upon more supremely instead of being seen as a deadbeat bedroom black metal project with drone-like symptoms. Other USBM groups such as Wrest's Leviathan and Grand Belial's Key (R.I.P Grimnir) change their sound and atmosphere quite a bit, and that's what should have happened here. Instead we still get the same fuzzy-raw guitaring, the same expected drum programming, a mere higher volume most importantly, and.. just the same ol' Xasthur. There couldn't have been much to expect from this, but by now a lot of people are irritated by this style of black metal. The only difference that sets this release from the others is the emphasis on the choir in the background, which compliments quite well I have to admit, but this sure isn't Tlak! All in all, good and bad opinions will always vary about this band, yet you should already know the pattern by now.

If you totally go nuts over anything Xasthur you'll probably give this album a 80% or somewhere beyond what this doesn't truly deserve, but if you share the same revulsion for "Subliminal Genocide" it will easily be seen as another over-hyped piece of compiled anger for the "underground" to pray to. Considering that seventy-eight percent of the time it sounds exactly the same, it is still a passing grade, but once again there's still a lot of "been there, done that" mixed with signature ghastly howls. Overall, this is an above average production that has an evident influence of Burzum's cold atmosphere ala "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" combined with the subtle rawness from the beginning-half of "Filosofem", eeriness of the morbid inflexibility of Mütiilation, and possibly old Graveland? To this day I consider Xasthur to be less black metal than what people claim or actually know, but rather a Droning Ambient/Black Metal emanation that varies inconstantly for its own sake.

Highlights: The Prison Of Mirrors, Arcane And Misanthropic Projection, Subliminal Genocide