The Cube

This album in general has a particular sound which to my knowledge has never been replicated by anyone else otherwise. It possesses an style which could be described as "melodic" but emphasizes on unusual melodies with chops and stops which are very prevalent throughout the entire album and sets them apart from that crowd of good doom/death bands which much like this one, evolved into something more gothic on later releases. It's definitely not something Iron Maiden-like you'd find on Gothenburg bands. There's also a rather high degree use of guitar pedal effects like delays and phasers which give it almost a post-rock vibe without delving too far into it.

Whereas this mostly nails the feeling one would expect in a death/doom band, such as mostly mid paced tempos, the foreign elements and incursions are very palpable. But this album manages to incorporate them very optimally and they never interfere or detract from the cohesion of the music itself.

The album is also conceptual to a high extent, dealing with existentialist and absurdist philosophical topics somehow influenced a bit by sci-fi genres. While I'm not one that listens to extreme metal for lyrical purposes and in most of the cases entirely disregard it, here I think they make a valuable contribution to the already good music.

The production is rather clean but still sounds old-school. But I must warn you to not get false expectations, chainsaw Swedish sounds and extreme fuzz is not to be found here. The distortion is rather mild for the genre but still manages to get the job done. I definitely recommend this piece of work for its novelty and experimentation. The whole thing overall feels very cinematic and is worth listening.

"The Cube" is an obscure progressive death metal album that deserves more attention. Supuration were a decent death metal band before releasing this, but there was little to prepare anyone for the direction they would take here. The record is easy enough to describe: a death metal version of Voivod's "Nothingface". That is basically it. The surprising thing is that Supuration succeed. This is a great record, no mere novelty act or clone. Sure, other death metal bands had been influenced by Voivod (e.g., Carbonized, Demilich), but no other death metal band pushed the Voivod sound to its logical conclusion.

The first thing to notice is the bass. It sounds massive, unlike any other death metal record I've ever heard. The bassist avoids the 'follow the guitar' approach, and he doesn't have a virtuoso 'DiGiorgio' style either. The bass on this album is sparse, lots of simple, single notes, stretched out for long periods. It sounds more like a low-end sub-woofer, the kind used in dub or reggae. This is one of the few metal albums where you can feel the bass. Birmingham-based acts like Godflesh (on "Streetcleaner") and Scorn (on "Vae Solis") had already experimented with ultra-heavy dub sounds, perhaps they were an influence on this?

The bass provides enough heaviness to free the guitarists up. They don't have to play constant aggressive distorted riffs. They can pick and choose their moments, experiment, overlay melodies and fuck around with effects. The vocals alternate between death metal growls and the nonchalant, robotic style pioneered by Snake from Voivod. The latter style dominates, with death growls only being used to add aggression or emotion. The drumming is varied and tasteful, the steady pace of each song means the drummer can concentrate on providing solid beats rather than overplaying. One of his common tricks is to play fast double kick over a slow tempo, to hypnotic effect. Perhaps if the album had been recorded a couple of years later it would have incorporated drum triggers (which became fashionable from about 1994). Thankfully, in 1993 we had lovely, crisp, natural sounding drums.

For all of their experimentation and deviation from standard death metal, "The Cube" is a death metal record. Even the (frequent) instrumental parts have a death metal vibe to them. The riffs are death metal riffs. "The Elevation" is a great example. Listen from about 2:25 onward. This section begins with a staccato melodic thrash riff (similar to something At the Gates would later make famous). Then it spins into a riff that sounds like early My Dying Bride (around 2:30), then morphs again into a proto-melodic death metal riff (2:40). The whole section ends with a solo which is as melodic as anything from "Heartwork", and probably more soulful.

"The Cube" is a strong album with no real filler. A song like "1308.JP.08" deviates far from conventional structure but still sounds well crafted. There are a couple of gems here. The title track is great, with its innovative use of the tremolo pedal effect which keeps the listener in a suspended state. Tom Morello used a similar effect for Rage Against the Machine on "Wake Up". My favourite song though is the catchily titled "4TX.31B", which arrives near the end of the album. This is the most recognisable tune, arriving with a 'drop' (0:07) and containing some of the album's best, crunchiest riffs (it actually foreshadows the sound on the first Vision of Disorder album, released three years later). The timbre of the drums here is so satisfying, and the guitar builds a lush, bopping rhythm underneath.

My only criticism is that the album sometimes lacks energy. The consistent pace, a slow to mid-paced crawl, allows Supuration to do great things. It gives them the platform to explore new territories that would not otherwise have been possible. It gives the album an almost 'trance' like momentum. I'm certain the tempo was a conscious choice on the band's behalf. The problem is that I sometimes find myself craving some speed. I'm reminded of a song like Voivod's "Tribal Convictions", and how much it benefits from incorporating a manic thrashing section. "The Cube" could have indulged one or two of those moments without sacrificing the overall vision. Still, this is a minor complaint and more about my personal taste than the quality of the album. Great band, unique record.

The early 1990s were an odd time for subcultures. Particularly those whose existence was predicated on critiquing the societies they existed alongside. Since its inception metal artists have commented on the hubris of the powers that be. In relistening to ‘Paranoid’ recently I was reminded of just how much that album was a product of the Vietnam War and the fear of nuclear holocaust. As lyricists began to delve into fantasy and history for inspiration, themes such as hubris, oppression, and betrayal were frequently explored. With the intensification of greed throughout the 1980s, thrash metal artists were screaming to the sky about the dangers of unchecked wealth, unjust wars, nuclear weapons, and the arrogance of humanity.

For that reason, the renewed age of hope brought on by the end of the Cold War caught a lot of people off guard. One lesser remarked upon aspect of this is metal’s renewed interest in transcendental themes; themes that were more eternal than commenting on the political climate. Aliens, conspiracies, mind control, the sense that governments were encouraging passivity in the populous as a means of control. All bled forth in various aspects of the culture of the 1990s. In metal this took many forms. One was common to the more progressive strains of extreme metal. An inward looking, introspective exploration of the nature of oppression, freedom, and the price of peace.

France’s Supuration need little introduction. Their music can be looked upon as an aberration, a wonderful anomaly released at times of historical flux. They are broadly speaking a gothic infused variation on mid-paced death metal, but gothic in the sense that their music engenders a feeling of despair and despondency; the angst of humanity being overrun by their own creations. And this is exemplified in their seminal LP ‘The Cube’ (1993). Conceptually it’s essentially a darker take on sci-fi thrash of the late 1980s, with more emphasis on psychology than sociology. This is haunting introspective death metal that borrows heavily from gothic doom metal in terms of technique, but applies it to a futuristic aesthetic. For instance, the frequent clean vocals, which are almost spoken word, sound robotic a-la DBC’s ‘Universe’ (1989), but they speak of anxiety and inner turmoil rather than space and pre-history.

The music itself is mid-tempo death metal that regularly breaks down to almost doom metal pacing, but accented by dissonant guitar leads, some of which are repeated to the point of discomfort, adding to the highly oppressive, claustrophobic nature of this music. It washes over the listener, with each refrain offering subtle changes or alterations to the last, giving enough hope that progress is being made, but leaving enough uncertainty to give the impression of being trapped. Like a fever dream that never resolves itself.

It does this with the same tool kit as much European death metal of the time. Although being French, Supuration are definitely closest to the Swedish school in terms of technique and approach…they sound a little bit like Entombed on Valium. Or rather…the musicians actually knew exactly what they were doing in creating such a torturous and dark piece of death metal. But they make you feel like you’re on Valium, and left to rot in a dark cold room. The end result is death metal to make you question your mental state.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

It's not often that you find an album that can really suck you in and take you on a journey. Supuration's The Cube is one of those rare cases, where the music is well done and each track possesses a similarly eerie atmosphere, a feeling of being trapped inside a cube. It's a fantastic effort, a sound that transcends the constraints of a genre and delivers plain old good music.

It's apparent from the beginning that this isn't a typical death metal album. There are slow, mid-tempo, and some slightly up-tempo sections, but you never get the feeling that this is a blistering death metal record. Instead, you get pretty simplistic, almost pop-like melodies, subtle drum patterns, and shifts between growled/screamed vocals and strange, and effect-laden clean vocal harmonies. Mind you, it can get pretty heavy and headbangable, but that isn't the aim of this music. No, there's a certain majestic, graceful feel to each track. Every guitar piece, every drum pattern, every vocal line flows effortlessly from section to section, retelling a story passed down from generations, a futuristic token of the past. I can't praise the vocal work enough, it isn't technically impressive, but what it adds to the music is indescribable. Tracks like The Elevation and The Enlightenment gain so much from the chorus-soaked voices and deep growls, it feels like a long distance radio transmission, coming from some deep region of space. This band understands that being progressive does not mean going completely overboard with showboating, every part has its place and connects to the overall picture like that missing puzzle piece.

I decided to knock off 5 points because, even though I can't find a fault with the album, I don't hold the album in the same place as I do an Altars of Madness or a Nespithe. But as an original body of music, Supuration delivers in every possible way. The re-issue gives you three bonus tracks that fit just as perfectly as the previous songs, an astounding accomplishment considering how different most bonus tracks feel compared to the album material. If you can purchase a copy, I really encourage you to do so. It's a mystery how this band is overlooked by many metal circles, but for those who take the time to give this a spin, you'll experience a tale unlike any other.

The French scene doesn't put out a lot of really groundbreaking stuff, but for those couple of masterpieces that do rise out of it, they're generally unorthodox and don't get the recognition that I feel they deserve (Loudblast's Sublime Dementia, Misanthrope's Visionaire, Anorexia Nervosa's Exile...all great albums). Supuration is no different. And even though I generally hate concept albums (unless their done by King Diamond), these dudes pull off a very intelligent and original story about the afterlife.

Judging just by the bizarre cover art, you know that you're getting into something different. An acoustic intro sets you up before blam! "The Elevation" kicks you square in the face. It's maybe not the most brutal thing in the world, but the this song fucking rolls! The guitars sound brutal, but somewhat like they were recorded with extraterrestrial robot technology, especially when they choose to throw in a melodic riff. Though the vocals are mostly deep, deep growls, when the clean vocals show up, heavily accented, but sounding wholly alien and bizarre. The guitar solos on this song are probably the best on the album, as well.

"The Cube" is the best song on here, and I can't think of a more compelling song. It starts off with a simple choppy, Voivod-esque riff, before being replaced by a galloping drum beat and a heavy as fuck guitar pulse, before returning again, time and time again, sometimes in a slightly different form. This is supposedly about what happens when the poor carachter in the story dies..."But there's nothing to see, no walls, no ground, not one part of my body," is quite an apt description of what it must be like, and the music is certainly a more than accurate aural accompaniment to the after life. This almost beats "The Apparition" by Fates Warning for the best song about the afterlife.

"The Accomplishment" is another driving song, and on here the clean vocals are used fucking perfectly. Even though it doesn't make much sense to me when I hear "I feel free from my lost agonies," I think I can feel what the meaning is...it's powerful.

Each song is entirely different, but most main elements are represented on here: crushing riffs and vocals a la Carcass, a few odd sounding acoustic moments, clean vocals, and tasteful melodies. While I'm not a big fan of clean vocals and a lot of melodies in my death metal, Supuration uses them sparingly, and only when it serves as the absolute orgasm of the song. There are small intro pieces between the songs which serve to keep the momentum going, and these are far from essential but do their purpose well.

There are only a few weaker moments, namely the last two songs, which just don't measure up when put alongside the really, really strong songs like "The Accomplishment," "The Cube" and "The Elevation."

I can kind of compare this to the bastard child of Carcass and Voivod, sort of like some alien autopsy or abduction soundtrack. Listening back to Anorexia Nervosa's first album, I think that this album must have had an influence on it, so at least someone listened to this masterpiece!

Back in 1993. The death metal scene is still very big all around the world. In France, Loudblast, Agressor, No Return and Massacra already are active. Coming from the same area as Loudblast come another promising band called Supuration. This band has been around for more than 3 years, has released lots of demotapes and vinyl EPs and even a demo CD. 'til there this was just another death metal among a billion of death metal bands but "The cube" arrived.

Coming in a nice digipak (including lyrics) which was not really common in 1993 when the crystal box was still reigning, Supuration, with its brutal death/goregrind name provides us a musical UFO, far away from usual death metal stuff. The music is still even and even death metal with heavy guitars and growls but there is also clear vocals and a lot of original guitar parts. The music is very hard to describe, it's dark, oppressive, catchy and very original... Most of all it's cold. Colder than most of black metal bands. Tempos are slow or mid, the band prefer crushing your brain from the inside, not by exploding your ears with tons of blasts. One of the only influence that can be heard here is Voivod. The cyber futuristic spirit of Voivod is here but in a personal version. Listen to this band and if you can say "oh, this really looks like XXX", then call me ;-)

Like all the albums of the band (under this name or under the name of SUP), this one is a concept album. Like all of their concepts, this one is about sci-fi. At the beginning of the album, we can hear someone who is speaking and just after that this person commit suicide. Then the whole album is about what is happening to him (or her, we don't know yet at this moment...), what he (or she) is seeing and feeling. in 1993 and 1994, during their european tour supporting Suffocation, the band used to play the whole album as it is on the CD, in order to "tell" the whole story.

13 years later, I still listen this album really often. This CD is now very hard to find but there was a remastered version with some bonus tracks which was released a few years later. This one can be found more easily.

If you're looking for something very original, give this one a try !