Anosognosic Industry of the I

(Just a little correction of facts.)

Weeping Birth is a brutal black/death metal project by Vladimir Cochet, the man behind Mirrorthrone and Unholy Matrimony. Now, if you are expecting to hear some lame Cannibal Corpse/Suffocation rip-off with widespread tremolo pickings for more than 60 minutes, I‘m telling you to stop speculating such things. Although brutality is the main word in this album, the sense of harmony is still visible and very much alive.

The riffs you will hear here are simply brutal and if you’re not used to such stuff, I have to say to you that you shouldn’t listen to this (yet!), but like what said a while ago, this album is not about brutality and brutality alone. The riffs present here still show some sense of harmony and melody. Although the drum tracks here are made by a drum machine (and on Cochet’s other releases), we hear the drums at a realistic speed in the black metal context, which is exceptionally fast-paced and filled up with blast beats. Lastly, we have the vocals. We have here the death grunts, which suit the album’s brutal atmosphere that made this full-length more of a death metal release than a black metal release.

Although the first song, “Then the Moon Came”, came with untamed, outright brutality, the real fun, though, begins at “Hurle a la Mort”, which has an excellent blend of brutality (the song’s vocals and the drumming) and harmony (the song’s riffs). “I Was” is another song with straight-out brutality and chaos, but still containing some sense of harmony, with a little bit of a melancholic touch. “Der Danz der Toten”, being the album's longest song, is one brutal heck of a song, at least for its first five minutes, until a keyboard interlude (then a melodic guitar riff) arrives, which lasts for a little more than 2-and-a-half minutes, and then a little more brutality to finish it all. “Orgasmic Fetid Breath”, being a song that starts with an eerie keyboard intro, shines by having black metal tremolo pickings at the song’s choruses and death metal riffs during the verses part. “Immobile” is more of a black metal song, for having a good atmospheric trance feeling all over it with some (almost) inhuman drumming, though still possible for pros. Last but not the least, we have here, perhaps, the most melodic song present in the album, which is “Shadowless”. The song features excellent singing (with the grunts still present here and there) and an overall melancholic atmosphere.

The album is nice considering that there are many long songs here like “Der Danz der Toten”, usually because brutal death metal artists like Cannibal Corpse rarely make songs as long as 5 minutes (refer to their 2006 release, “Kill”). Well, if you have ears used to extreme metal, waste no time and better listen to this one now!

Originally made for http://mystifymyserie.blogspot.com

First of all, if you already listened to Vladimir Cochet’s other works (Unholy Matrimony and Mirrorthrone), you will notice that Weeping Birth is running in a totally different track. While the other projects are clearly pure black metal, I would say that Weeping Birth (at least for the last album) is about 60% death metal and 40% black metal. However, you will still be in a known terrain since Vladimir came back with even better programming skills, his vocals are at a peak on this album and his song writing has reached a new level.

One of the most interesting aspects of this album is the drum composition. As you probably know, Vladimir uses a drum machine, which means he has virtually no speed limit on his drumming, which is a strength and a weakness. Of course it allows to bring amazing drum rifting, but it also gets inhuman sometimes (if you listened to Unholy Matrimony, you will know what I mean, talking of base drum.). However, his programming skills are definitely at their best on this album, which permitted him to create incredible drum rifts, at really high speeds sometimes, but never in an unnatural manner, which is extremely interesting. In fact, the drums on Anosognosic Industry Of the I could almost replace the guitars because of their extreme variety and catchiness.

Every time I hear a new album from Vladimir, I discover something new about him. Before hearing this album, I considered that his composing skills were way stronger than his interpret talents. Just listen to ‘’Hurle à la Mort’’ (for those who do not speak English: this song title means ‘’Scream to the Death’’) and the very first rifts will prove you the opposite. Sharp, fast and aggressive, this song is a serious concurrent to technical death bands. While this album has not been composed to show off his skills, it definitely is extremely solid and should satisfy anyone who likes fast and technical songs.

If you are familiar with Mirrorthrone and its first album (Of Wind and Weeping), you will probably notice that Vlad’s vocals evolved dramatically over the last few years. They are with no doubt at a peak on his latest album, and it fits perfectly in the style of Weeping Birth. His harsh vocals can compete with any black/death metal vocalist. He totally masters the abdominal push technique, and uses it as well. ‘’Orgasmic fetid breath’’ is literally a glorious harsh vocal symphony.

I really liked the quality of the production of this album. If you consider that Vladimir Cochet plays and records all his music in his own bedroom, it is almost unbelievable. The mixing is almost perfect on every song, every instrument finding his own way to your ear.

My only deception was the bass. Even though some songs, like ‘’Der Tanz der Toten’’ have some really good bass lines, on most of the album it is only present to be present. However, the drums and guitars strongly compensate and make it forgettable.

In conclusion, Anosognosic Industry of The I is almost perfect. I have listened to it 34 times before writing this review, and I am still discovering it. My favourite 2008 release.

Most interesting songs: Hurle à la Mort, Der Tanz der Toten, Orgasmic Fetid Breath and Shadowless

Vladimir Cochet is a busy man. He is in numerous bands, and seems to be writing a lot of albums and contributing constantly to the metal scene. This is one of his bands, titled Weeping Birth. I suppose with a name like that, you’d expect misogynistic lyrics and shitty goregrind, but what we have instead is pure sonic bliss.

And with a name like Vladimir, how could you NOT make a badass album?

All jokes aside, Anosognosic Industry Of The I is a pummelling assault on the senses. It’s pretty much a mix of brutal death metal and black metal, with some rare quieter, slower sections squeezed in there. A quick look at the running time would have potential listeners running away…73 minutes. 73 minutes of relentless brutal music would normally bore you to tears (Vital Remains are getting close to this stage, so that could be a warning for this band), but this album doesn’t. In fact, you’re always ready to hear what Vladimir has come up with next, because the guitar riffs are really, for lack of a better term, interesting.

Speaking of riffs, the album is bursting at the seams with them. There is a lot of shredding going on, which goes hand-in-hand with the drumming very well. The epic “Der Tanz Der Toten” contains some exceptional guitar work, and the quiet section closer to the end shows that Vladimir does not need to rely on pure speed to create some great music. The whole song slows down, and we’re subjected to the more melodic riffing style of Weeping Birth. To be truthful, it’s a wonderful “break” from the brutal onslaught of armoured tanks firing guitars and drums, and it’s one of my favourite sections of the album.

The drumming is performed by a drum machine, but even the experienced listener may not be able to tell. The one way you could tell is by listening to the inhumanly fast double-kick work in “Love, Death’s Betrothed”…a person couldn’t do that, but besides that minor giveaway, Vladimir’s programming skills have worked wonders. Judging by the technicalities the drumming produces, it must’ve taken him many sleepless hours to get every fill, every snare hit, every cymbal crash sounding the way he wanted and placing them where he desired. I tip my hat to his hard work.

The vocals are killer, and there is no denying that. He has a perfect growl to compliment the music at hand. He’s still legible, which is actually an important trait in metal, despite the kind of vocals required for some styles.

One thing that makes this album much less unbearable in terms of running time is the fact that most tracks run together. Tracks 1-6 all flow seamlessly into one another, making it feel like one large, incredible song. Same with tracks 7-10, so in 10 tracks, it’s like listening to two epic brutal death songs. For some people, it might not be good enough, because at the end of the day, it’s still 73 minutes of endless brutality. For me, though, it makes Anosognosic Industry Of The I that much more enjoyable.

The three-piece of “Orgasmic Fetid Breath”, “Love, Death Betrothed”, and “Immobile”, contains some of my favourite sections in the album. The speed is most evident in the middle track, and contains one of my favourite main riffs (and that one at around the 3-minute mark). “Shadowless” also shows us the clean vocal style, and the more melodic songwriting ability, of Vladimir. This apparently has connections to one of his other projects, but since I’m not too familiar with Mirrorthrone or Unholy Matrimony, I won’t comment further on it. But, honestly, Anosognosic Industry Of The I is a journey, and while it may be treacherous and time-consuming, it’s ultimately rewarding. You’ll find yourself taking the journey again and again.

Best tracks: Totalitarian Grievance, Der Tanz Der Toten, Love, Death’s Betrothed, Immobile

Those of you familiar with the name and work of Vladmir Cochet have probably already heard this. For the rest of you, allow me to let you in on a particularly well kept secret in extreme metal and quite possibly one of the most promising artists in extreme metal today. Weeping Birth is Vladmir Cochet’s first foray into the world of extreme metal and was formed by the man in 1999. While this year has already seen him release an album under his black metal project Mirrothrone, Cochet seems to have kept himself quite busy with the release of Weeping Birth’s second full length just months after the release of Mirrorthrone’s Gangrene .

Right from the opening blast of Then the Moon Came it’s apparent that Weeping Birth is a very different beast in comparison to his other projects. The music is brutal and relentless but at the same time Cochet’s song writing skills are such that Anosognosic Industry of the I is an album that doesn’t get old. The music is for the most part a perfect synthesis of the best elements of black metal and brutal death metal. Imagine Vader going head to head in a bare knuckle boxing match with Emperor and you’ll get a vague idea of what’s happening on this album.

The songs are all very heavy and aggressive yet have enough change ups and benefit from Cochet’s superior guitar playing to be really memorable individual pieces. Stand out tracks include the awe-inspiring Totalitarian Grievance with its superb guitar work, the almost groovy I Was and the epic Der Tanz der Toten which has a cinematic and eerie feel to it.

Overall, the song writing here is far superior to anything found on the last Mirrorthrone album but the problems that mar Weeping Birth are the same as the ones I had with Mirrorthrone. Cochet still uses a drum machine and while his skill at programming is undeniable, it does get a bit irritating to sit through for the entire 73 minutes of music on offer here. The other problem is the album’s running time. It could have done with some trimming as the second half of the album feels a bit bloated with songs like Vaginal Secretions, Orgasmic Fetid Breath and Immobile not really living up to the quality found on the rest of this album. At the same time Anosognosic Industry of the I ends on a high note with the superb one-two punch of Shadowless and Le Mauvais Oeil both of which blur the difference between Cochet’s many projects.

While I’m very interested to see what this man can accomplish with a quality drummer and a full band to back him up I have to say that this is music of an insanely high caliber coming as it does from a one-man project. Anosognosic Industry of the I is a definite highlight of the year for me and wipes the floor with most of the blackened death metal that is being released this year.

Originally written for http://www.kvltsite.com

Weeping Birth, Vladimir Cochet's very first venture into music. His aim: create the most sinister, haunting, horrifying death metal mankind had ever heard. With his debut album, A Painting of Raven and Rape, he nearly achieved that. The one thing holding that album back from being the most deathly terrifying musical score ever written were the mechanical drums. 300+ BPM of pure mechanized blast beats. Sounds nice, fast, yet too programmed and synthetic to scare the life out of anyone, including Vladimir himself.

But now he's back, and he's striking fear into the hearts (and ears) of everyone with vengeance. After releasing Gangrene under his symphonic black metal project Mirrorthrone, it's time for Weeping Birth to come off its five year hiatus. This album opens with one hell of a song. "Then the Moon Came" instantly produces an eerie atmosphere with the first few notes. Solemn, yet spooky. Then, Vladimir chimes in with a growl filled with vitriol and hatred. From there, a relentless onslaught.

The production on this album is fucking incredible. So crisp, so clean, and fits the music so well. You can hear every nuance of every instrument, from the keyboards to the guitars. Hell, even the bass provides a gigantic wall of sound to create that deep, thick sound to reimburse the other instruments.

However, the one instrument really worthy of credit is the drums. Holy living hell, Vladimir has improved his programming skills tremendously. If Gangrene wasn't enough to showcase this, then Anosognosic Industry of the I will convince you. Throughout this entire album, constant blast beats. Sure, some will think "this is boring," while others will say "OH MAN MOST BRUTAL EVER HOLY SHIT!" Yet, it's neither. Aesthetically, it marvels the ears as it perfectly suits every passage and note played by the other instruments. They almost sound industrial at times. If Vladimir had decided to make this more industrial-death oriented, it would only make them sound better than they already are.

There's not much else to mention. The guitar riffs are amazing. Flowing into each other, the bending is so fluent, the solos are well placed. The vocals are chilling. Hatred, violent, passionate. The drums are perfect. Bass does its job well.

There are influences from Vladimir's other projects scattered throughout this album. The most prominent being in Le Mauvais Oeil, the final track. Near the end, the keyboard passage resembles the melody of "The Feeling of Not Belonging" from his black metal project Unholy Matrimony. Seems he can't stray far from his other styles, yet it fits.

This is not death metal. If Mirrorthrone and Unholy Matrimony were people, and they met up, fucked, and had a child, this would be it. This is black metal meets brutal death metal. This is perfection.