Tumultuous Travelings

The muffled, nearly inaudible hiss of the dawn's haze permeates the atmosphere. Signs of an approaching thunderstorm flash suddenly in the smokey sky above, a crackling thunderbolt sparks and scatters across the tellurian web like the frantic pacing of a spider just alerted to the presence of its prey. A cold, heartless rain begins its descent from the unforgiving heavens into the mortal plane as an ominous and gloomy crawling death knell beckons to a higher purpose. Foreboding calmness is quickly cast aside, in place a frenetic horror is all to be felt as the caravan of pre-destiny drags a condemned man to the jagged rocks of sorrow and altar of solace to await the verdict of the gods...

And this is but the first moments of terror that the fiendish Timeghouls impose upon those willing to welcome it. This calamitous cadre of craftsmen masterfully place themselves in the death metal batallion's vanguard to deliver a cerebral assault like none other. Mistake me not, ladies and gentlemen, this band is not standard fare by any means. Exhibiting a superior grasp of composition and style, the main brain Jeff Hayden leads his soldiers into the foray with clout rivaled by few. Timeghoul will traverse as many worlds and dimensions of mood and atmosphere within the span of 6 minutes that lesser bands never manage to do with their entire career. While this is truly what I would call a forward thinking brand of music, it is in no way to be paralelled with the directionless and flamboyant class of technical death metal that has recently exploded into popularity. Hindsight and foresight is near perfect on this demo, showing an incredible amount of respect to the qualities and characteristics that make death metal appealing and worthwhile while also providing something fresh and interesting, all the while remaining cohesive.

Tumultuous Travelings can be best stylistically described as "gloomy death metal". I have to refrain from using the term doom/death (even though it comes to mind) because they really aren't that. The slow, down tempo passages are numerous and very, very important however they are used in a manner that suggests an entirely different feeling than what doom metal traditionally employs them for. This stuff is downright creepy, people. Timeghoul takes many nods towards various sources of inspiration. Jeff Hayden apparently was a huge fan of medieval era music, and is a trained composer on top of everything else, and this shows. However those are facts of minor importance compared to the observed (in my own case) distancing to nearly every brand of death metal out at the time. This demo is neither here nor there, all things considered; it truly stands on its own. Swirling contrapuntal melodic lines contrast with their grounding harmonic anchors like a swarm of hornets on the attack, a seemingly chaotic barrage in disarray that ultimately reveals to be connected with a real purpose and goal. And so like the fury that these winged soldiers rain down upon its unfortunate victims, so too does this metal assault return to its multi-chambered fortress of order. Contrasts between frantic aggression and reclusive malaise is one of the stronger tools in Timeghoul's arsenal.

There is an amazing sense of motif on this demo, as well. Each song is good enough to stand sufficiently independent from the rest, but they also inter-connect with one another to make for an incredible collection of music. Many people are often put off by the usage of the term "composition", and while I understand why they feel that it has certain connotations of grandeur and elitism, I always use it to simply mean any sort of musical creation. However in this occasion I feel that I must betray my neutral attitudes in favor of the loaded term. These songs are really top notch. They all end up near the 6 minute mark, which is just about as long as they need to be. The musical structure is for the most part non-recursive; no typical verse/chorus format here, neither is there the free-form, meandering feeling that you get from some bands. There are clear and defined sections contained within each song, but each one leads logically into the next from both a compositional point of view, and also a more natural "listener's" perspective. If there is one quality that I have to praise this band for, it's their ability to translate elaborate music into a form free of any pretense and self-imposed difficulties.

Perhaps one of the more remarkable characteristics to regard is the tastefully utilized clean vocals. They are of the chant variety, often in plainspeak technique and sometimes a more melodic fashion. Perhaps the most distinct and memorable implementation of these vocals is on the down tempo section of "The Siege" just before the climax of the song. A multi-layered harmonization chanting chorus is so incredibly effective in not only enhancing but nearly single-handedly creating this forlorn passage. Hayden was on to something special here, and it's a shame that it all but died with the band. The standard vocal offering however is not to be ignored. Sinister and bellowing, they are emanations from the pit. There is a remarkable clarity to the vocals that manage to be as just as aggressive and removed from human likeness as the average incomprehensible gutturals, yet they are superior due to the distinctness in enunciation.

Regarding the production aspects of this demo, there are a few things that one must understand. A seasoned veteran of the genre will immediately understand the importance of the sonic representation in dark metal. Modern initiates of extreme music may opt for a pristine clarity, and while I'm an audio engineer by profession, I must simply disagree. Music of this nature does not lend itself well to a polished sound, as has been said by many others before me and will continue to be said after me. I am also not of the thought that pure rawness should be acceptable to a certain degree; I believe it is important for the instruments to be heard, after all that is why we listen to the music. That being said, I find the aural qualities of the demo to be very suitable, but not yet perfected as they are in the follow up, Panaramic Twilight. The guitars are fuzzy and often obfuscated by the wall of noise that they produce, in a deleterious fashion. Careful listenings will yield a more pleasing experience, and the notes may be discerned if sufficient attention is placed upon the music. Most might detract because of this (naturally), however I think it improves the whole affair. There is a certain feeling of satisfaction to be obtained by developing an enhanced appreciation of a subject after multiple mindful observations. Poorly recorded electrics aside, the bass is duly befitting. There is a placating rumble that creeps along durng the deepest of lows, evocative of lurking fiends slithering and lumbering about in the darkest corners of the earth.

My closing thoughts are simply this: I believe it to be one of the great tragedies of death metal that Timeghoul has disembarked from this realm with such a small legacy. One can definitely tell this band would have done great things, even though they have already achieved much with just two demos. Perhaps with their small resurgance into popularity on the internet and small tape trading circles, a renewed interest in this class of death metal can be sparked. I can only believe that to be a good thing.