Telepathic with the Deceased

When it comes to a musical perspective, Xasthur is easily one of the most unconventional black metal musicians of all time. His works have a lot of grieving and depression that even most black metal musicians today fail to accomplish. While each Xasthur album has its own style that executes a sad atmosphere, "Telepathic with the Deceased" is in my opinion his most depressive album. From the traumatic instruments to Malefic's emotional vocals, this album is a tough one to get through for those who aren't experienced with DSBM.

One great element in this album is the instruments. The previous two albums weren't perfect, but had enough impact to convey an emotional atmosphere. "Telepathic with the Deceased", however, takes them to a whole new level. The guitar riffs are really fuzzy and are mainly in the background, but they bring in some tragic and somber riffs. The drums also don't beat fast, but play fast enough to evoke a foundation for a distraught feel. The best instrumentals on the album would be the keyboards. The keyboards are relatively simple and aren't in every part of the songs, but whenever they appear, they play these really heartbreaking tunes that further execute the dark and bleak atmosphere of each track. The instruments and atmosphere are at their strongest on the tracks "Slaughtered Useless Beings in a Nihilistic Dream", "Cursed Revelations", and "Murdered Echoes of the Mind". Even the intro and outro tracks are great, as the keyboards play some of the most depressing tunes in Xasthur's discography. The instrumentals are amazing overall, and execute the sad atmosphere the strongest out of any Xasthur album.

But if you think the instruments are depressing, wait until you hear Malefic's vocals. Malefic's vocals on every album have been striking, but never have they been more powerful than in this album. Here, the vocals contain nothing but long, painful shrieks that stretch out the words so much that you won't be able to understand it unless you have the lyrics sheet in hand. While this would be a bad thing in any other release, it actually works on this album. Take the track "Telepathic with the Deceased" for example. Malefic chants out the lyrics as the background vocals scream and cry. This works as good symbolism on how Malefic feels great pain on the inside and doesn't know how to express it. It also fits the sorrowful instruments extremely well, and they flow well on the tracks. While there are a couple of times where the vocals are a bit too much to bare, the execution of his voice enhances the miserable atmosphere of the album.

And then there's the lyrics. The lyrics are short and don't offer a lot of detail, but its way of wording and execution is astounding. Take the lyrics to "Drown into Eternal Twilight" for example:

Who they are, who they once were is what they fear
(Murdered by those they hold near)
In a new age without a planet to rebuild
The end of the earth served as my rebirth
It will fall to pieces

The lyrics in this part talk about how since humans can't find a new earth, they, as well as the planet, will perish as a new life form will be born. It seems like an environmental message that has a rather gloomy tone. However, Malefic's dark vocals and the slow, despairing instruments give the lyrics an even bleaker view, as it seems like the end really is near. In some tracks like "Murdered Echoes of the Mind", the lyrics deal with themes of suicide, which are executed beautifully with its doomful instruments and Malefic's agonizing vocals. The lyrics might not be the most poetic, but the execution in it is great.

Overall, this is not an easy album to listen to. While this album does provide some anger like in many other black metal albums, "Telepathic with the Deceased" expresses that anger in a different style. The instruments bring in a tragic atmosphere, the vocals are heartbreaking and in pain, and the lyrics have some of the most impactful lyrics in Xasthur's discography. While DSBM isn't for everyone, "Telepathic with the Deceased" remains a classic in the genre and is recommended for those who are experienced in it.

Xasthur is known for a dark ambient sound, a sound that I have not heard the likes of in a while. While I know that Xasthur has been continued as a doomgrass group, and still retains some of it's dark sound, it is nothing compared to the black metal Xasthur. Telepathic with the Deceased was my first outing listening to Xasthur and its doom filled world, and I absolutely love it. It has such an oppressive atmosphere, and it is maddening to listen to. Harsh guitar noise, apocalyptic sounding keyboards, doom-like drumming, and vocals of true despair, this record is truly evil and wants to drag you down.

Malefic is a dark individual, and this is reflected in his vocal style. It has a pained style to it that is quite unique to listen to. It is a hollow, bottomless scream that is full of hate at the world and at you. His introduction on the record is a little weak in all honesty, but he drives it home that it will get better, and by god it does, and I love it. My favorite performance by him on this record finds itself between "Telepathic with the Deceased," the album's title track, and "Cursed Revelations." "Cursed" is definitely a personal favorite of mine. It starts off slow, a small drum beat and some keyboards, and then BOOM, there he is. The scream Malefic lets out, coupled with the sudden wall of guitar noise, is sudden, has a slight build up to it with the drums, and is always a pleasure to scare your friends with who think that MCR is the scariest band in the world or some shit like that. Nice job Malefic, you know how to scare edgy kids.

Malefic's musical work is very interesting, it's repetitive but keeps you hooked in and doesn't let go until the record is finished, even with some of the down time in-between songs. The album has a lot of fade outs, with few hard cuts. That choice really keeps the flow of the album going, like the phases of the moon. It is a gradual transition that is really cool. The guitar work is definitely repetitive, and could use some improvement in spots, but hell, its dsbm, no one gives a fuck! Hey kids, did you know that you can make a twenty-two minute song out of just only TWO RIFFS?! All poking fun at Hypothermia aside, a song that really could use some variation is "Murdered Echos of the Mind," a slower paced song that does eventually break the riff that it has going, but the main riff could definitely be reworked. The drum work is damn good. Malefic can lay down some pretty fast beats, similar to those found in normal black metal. The bridge on the title track, "Telepathic," shows that Malefic can play fast, and is really fun to listen to. The keyboards are truly maddening to listen to. Even with the intro song, "Entrance into Nothingness," they provide a sense of despair and futility that is impossible to escape.

The production of Telepathic with the Deceased is classic one man levels of good. It is actually quite similar to The Tenth Sub Level in terms of guitar and drum space, in which I mean that the guitars really overpower the drums. Compared with the drums, the guitars and vocals take up way to much space, leaving the bass and drums to be super quiet. The bass is virtually unheard of on this album, and it is a real shame too. "A Walk Beyond Utter Blackness" has a really fun, simple bass line that is easy to play along with. The only part of Malefic's kit that is audible over the vocal and guitar wall of sound are the bass drums, leaving the toms, crashes, and hi-hats as flotsam and jetsam in the sea of lofi recording. Surprisingly enough, despite Malefic doing all of the recording, he wasn't the one to master the record. That was left to Kevin Nettleingham. So I guess I should direct my anger at him, but Malefic normally does everything else.

This album pretty much beats The Tenth Sub Level lyrically, all across the board. With Leviathan, the hate can be projected inward or outward, but with Xasthur, the hate is projected outward at full force. Malefic hates you, your family, your friends, happiness, the life you live, anything really. He hates all of it and wants you to die. He did state, in the past, that the purpose of his music was to knock humanity off its high horse. I am sure it has succeeded, it has with me. His lyrics really made me look at myself, my disgusting self, and say that I am truly no better than the people I try to dissociate with. Humanity is full of paradoxes, oximorons, and hate. The purpose of his lyrics and music was to point it out, to drag people to the level he has been at for so long without hope of recovery. He wants you to hate as well. He hates you. Plain and simple.

In all, Telepathic with the Deceased is a dark record that makes you look at yourself from a lower standpoint, like how we look down on pests we wish to kill. Malefic's pained vocals provide a sense of dread and fear that I have not heard again from any other project. His guitar and drum work is fine definitely, but some parts could use a bit of reworking. The mixing is normal one man mixing, loud overpowering guitars and vocals, virtually unheard bass, and unfortunately muffled drums. It still works, giving off an oppressive atmosphere that is hard to shake off. The lyrics are truly full of hatred at the world, humanity in particular, and want you and everyone you know and care for to die. He hates it all.

The question for me now, at this point in Malefic's career, watching him from a distance negotiating the early career hurdles of popularity, acclaim, critical sponsorship from the mainstream underground publications, etc. is aligned, just as it was before, along the paths of aesthetics, wondering now as a number of years ago how he will progress in the evolution of Xasthur - or if he will at all. Black metal, as we all know, is a subgenre of metal that not only harbors those who refuse (or can not) evolve or advance in the exploration of their own aesthetic statements, it is positively (or negatively, as it were) a gathering of artists, aficionados, perverts, those who run from the light, etc. gathered, at times, around the singularly nihilistic ethic of artistic stagnation. There are many in the black metal underground who claim that aesthetic progression in one's material is unwarranted, that musical/expressive exploration and experimentation is harmful to the "black metal spirit", and that all such evolution should be peremptorily blocked and/or denigrated to serve some "greater purpose" of black metal... what that "greater purpose" is or will be at any given moment is, of course, undefined. It is not difficult to trace the origin of this attitude - look no further than Darkthrone - but at the heart of this approach to composition and its attendant derivations from earlier bands lies a cold irony: Darkthrone's two main influences, Bathory and Hellhammer, were - as later events (events in this case just meaning succeeding works) were to show - progressive entities. Hellhammer was left behind on the rehearsal room floor in scorn because Warrior and Ain could not bear the onus of its atavism and sought the more fertile, open, free-breathing spaces of Celtic Frost (even now, Frost is a byword or signifier for the "progressive" in metal composition because of "Into the Pandemonium"), and Bathory was always in development as Quorthon never stopped trying to change his band's approach to composition; correspondingly various metal subgenres can simultaneously claim his mark of origin and patronage: black metal, death metal, viking metal, etc. Atavistic or "primitive" black metal bands would be better off claiming Venom as their main influence!

When Darkthrone were at their peak, earlier in the transition stage between death and the new ("second wave") black metal of "A Blaze..." and then again at the height of their idiosyncrasies at "Transilvanian Hunger" and "Panzerfaust" they of course chose, as their model, both early Frost and Bathory, but not even they, at this point, would have said (if they were honest) that they considered slavish repetition and a fear of progression (nihilistic in its denial of artistic prerogative and desire, and suicidal in its self-destroying anti-creativity, anti-originality) to be the "root" of "pure" black metal. Even at their most traditional, on "Panzerfaust", Darkthrone instilled/distilled enough of their own aesthetic originality into their compositions and production sound to make the album appear to be a definite progression from anything their influences could possibly create. Did Quorthon or Warrior have anything in their blood, hearts, and minds that could ultimately result in something like "En Vind Av Sorg" or "The Hordes of Nebulah"? Not a chance. It was only later, after the sad nullity of "Total Death" and the return of the band from the brink of dissolution, where they, instead of creating reflexively, originally, and with individual, stubborn intent, started interpreting their own prior motives and commenting through their new songwriting on what had come before in their own history, did the ethic of tradition or adamant conservatism for its own sake become something solid, well-defined, influential, and ultimately harmful. This is to say that... a certain form of self-awareness, the view of an objective judgement of one's material, can often be a negative thing.

Enough about Darkthrone. Can one hear self-referential giddiness in Xasthur's newest creations? I certainly can not, but then again because there are so few signifiers as to Malefic's progression (again, if there are any at all) that it becomes increasingly difficult as he continues to produce material to date, categorize, or place in any kind of definite order anything he has released, and thus, in a timeless series of productions self-reference becomes rather an accident of song placement (in whatever series) instead of a line traceable through allusions to chronology. What is the difference between the Xasthur of "Telepathic with the Deceased" and the band of "A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors"? I honestly have trouble enunciating or describing the differences, and I wonder if this is an echo of Malefic's own wishes (as they are manifested in his art) or just another way of my subconscious mocking my attempts to "define" or create an adequate vocabulary/terminology to capture the extralinguistic effects of these soundworlds. It is probably just a failure of my own understanding. Having for some time now fully immersed myself within Malefic's music and permitting his efforts to permeate my consciousness while I attempted to be especially receptive to any messages it may or may not carry, I feel at times that I have learned everything that he can possibly teach me when it comes to the delineation, elaboration, construction, and investigation of "mysterious" atmospheres, and yet these special (signature) moments of his compositional concentration are, of course, through the agency of a talent that I would wager even he does not fully understand himself (or at least this would be his "explanation", as the romantic archetypes/paradigms of the "natural" artist still resonate within our culture - but this is the fault, in part, of the vocabulary he has been given to describe his work), elusive in the fullest, "mysterious" even as they are channeled through his conscious attempts at rational, "traditional", well-defined (aesthetically, and in terms of techniques) compositional "style". This is of course what makes music so special for all of us, fans and enthusiasts as well as composers and musicians: the ability of the extralinguistic both to escape one's skill to describe abstract forms and one's ability to define, control, or categorize these abstractions because of a multiplicity of expressive factors (that seem "natural" and/or "supernatural" to the unintelligent) that fly free of the musician's aptitude to track them in the meeting place of music's creation: time and space, time and emotion, time and the interpenetration of melodic concepts.

Still, one can hear on this release certain attempts being made to isolate a particular form or style of presentation, from all of the various aesthetic signifiers/particulars in Xasthur's material to date, and present that collection of forms or holistic, inclusive structure as a statement of intent, perhaps, or at least a sort of artistic display of cohesion, of self-awareness, of a compositional standard being placed as a boundary, a marker, and then (perhaps) a trajectory. It remains to be seen whether this trajectory can spread its influence beyond this material, or if Malefic will return in the future to comment on it, abrogate it gently, mock it, play alongside it with self-deprecating good humor, etc. This is to say: whether or not Malefic will continue in the creation, definition, and exploration of one signature style and approach to black metal compositional/creative/melodic techniques can not be determined at this time... I would need to listen to the next album in his history, and perhaps the next after that. So in the meantime what we have, again, is a somewhat simpler Xasthur, appearing out of the mists of four-track tape hiss and drum machine programming to surface with tainted messages from Malefic's unconscious and his will-to-compose, his now (especially pertinent) will-to-be-noticed, a much less "comprehensive" organism but one that is (seemingly, at least on the surface) no stranger, still, to the inward, introverted, Burzum-influenced, source of solipsistic black metal... black metal as a demonstration of loneliness, isolation, pain, hatred, self-loathing, etc. Directed outwards, always, as a sort of flashing sign through the murkiness of this genre's inherited obsession with artificially-produced signifiers of "obscurity" (And thus profundity? Consult Nietzsche on the "muddying of waters"), as demonstration of inwardness and incommunicability, yet always eager (as an expression of its purpose, the reason it was created) to "draw one in" to the echoing, morbid sound fields, the hazy fog of inescapable melancholy, the elaboration of musical abstractions as direct corollaries of emotional states. It is still an effective style, I should say... although since it has now been defined, categorized, labeled by critics, given an "official" origin, purpose, stylistic "meaning" (in terms of internationally competing aesthetic convictions and their corresponding alliances, Xasthur and Leviathan have been pointed to as the "new hope" of "American black metal" - which is just marketing), one can only wonder how long it will be before Malefic feels himself to be rigidly confined and unnaturally preserved by expectations inside this "identity" of Xasthur, and how long before he will make his move to escape it. As it stands, he has not reached that point yet. "Telepathic with the Deceased", then, should please his older fans and welcome new ones into the fold with its relative simplicity. It is not excellent, but it is more than adequate, and that is seemingly all that is being asked from Malefic at this time.

UA

Erebus Magazine
http://erebuszine.blogspot.com

While I took to Leviathan almost immediately, it took a little longer for Xasthur's work to grow on me. I mention the two together because, for myself, they represent the top of the crop as far as US black metal. Both serious minded artists with interesting vision and follow-through. It's no joke that they've found such widespread cult audiences. Neither is afraid to incorporate outside influence into their songwriting, whether that be, ambient, noise or rock, yet they both retain the core of what makes raw black metal so poignant.

Telepathic With the Deceased is the third full-length for Malefic, and bears the seal of excellence. He works well beyond the scope of his limitations: while many albums with such an obvious drum machine fall flat on their asses, he weaves such hypnotic, sobering grimness on this record that you are quick to listen past this shortcoming. The album provides nearly an hour of introspective sorrow. This is the sound of isolation, of regret, and desperation.

The haunting choral synth piece "Entrance Into Nothingness" resounds with searing ambient keys and a steady chugging noise, for nearly four minutes this repetetive nightmare is drilled straight into your subconscious as by some ectoplasmic osmosis. "Slaughtered Useless Beings in a Nihilistic Dream" breaks out the drum machine...battery, which is thankfully smothered in vicious, distant vocals, grim churning guitars and playful, almost psychedelic bassline. While highly repetetive, there's a beautiful breakdown after the 2:50 mark with truly mesmerizing guitars. "Abysmal Depths are Flooded" paints a downtrodden portrait through the jangly acoustics over the driving distortion, almost a Sonic Youth of black metal until the track opens up into its glorious black/doom core. "May Your Void Become as Deep as My Hate" again uses cleaner guitar tone over the streaming black miasma, though effected so as to reach up through the grates of whatever sub-dungeon Malefic has spawned from. The title track follows, an entrancing introduction of throbbing ambient synths and grating pianos that flows into nearly 10 minutes of epic horror. I really enjoyed the bass during the verses.

"A Walk Beyond Utter Blackness" creates another troubled atmosphere, the fuzz of its droning rhythms casting an utmost sorrow, the blues of black metal, a perfect wristcutting opportunity. "Cursed Revelations" uses an almost goofy synth line behind its tortured snarls and slower broiling guitars to great effect; one of the reasons I enjoy Malefic's work is that he incorporates an almost abstract pop aesthetic into his songwriting. On paper that might sound strange...but listen and you can hear how it excels. "Drown Into Eternal Twilight" is one of the choice moments among so many fine songs...it creates an unforgettable wall of keening guitars, mystique-weaving acoustics and whispered sadness during its three minute stay. "Murdered Echoes of the Mind" is 10 minutes of stunning, glorious sorrow, again with the very basic synth lined creating a resounding, repetitious atmosphere. Near the conclusion the track breaks into a sadistic embolism of grimness. "Exit" closes the album with another synth/ambient piece, filtered pipe organs disappear like a funeral procession a half mile away.

'Faith lies in a God never to be seen, as I'm slashing your throat, will you believe in me?'

I should point out that this is a highly immersive voyage, well worth taking and no drugs required (though I can't imagine they'd hurt the experience). I've read a lot of criticism of Xasthur which is so much nonsense. His work is a window into what is far more than another overhyped bedroom black metaller, each of his albums is quite carefully plotted and tweaked to maximize its dread effect. Telepathic With the Deceased has only grown on me in time. It has lost nothing to repeated listens and it's more effective than a great deal of the black metal (or even doom metal) I hear. In a cultural landscape where metal musicians simply aren't reared or conditioned to produce such material, it is both refreshing and superbly crafted. Shy of perfection, perhaps, but nihilistic, supernatural, and truly dead.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I am not one to tell people that they do not understand an album when they give it a lower rating than I believe it deserves, because that usually leads to unnecessary bickering, but I can not help but feel this way about this album and in general about Xasthur’s work. Xasthur’s work, generally, can be described as chaotically ambient & hypnotically psychedelic black metal with diverging speeds of melody and overtones. Telepathic With The Deceased, although keeping true to this formula to an extent, is not a textbook definition of the Xasthur sound, mainly due to some more melodic interludes and parts which, although seem to present instances of progression in Xasthur’s work, appear at times to be forced in order to accomplish just that.

This album is definitely on par with Xasthur’s other works. It offers some great tracks that are definitive Xasthur pieces such as, “Slaughtered Useless Beings In A Nihilistic Dream.” A hypnotic muffled snare drum and an occasional cymbal strike, for the repetitive drilling, mixed with trademark Xasthur vocals and a subdued, almost under tonal, bass guitar riff that conjures up a mesmerizing array of bleak imagery and morbid fascinations. Malefic also uses a drum machine, as on his previous albums, to invoke the classic Xasthur-esque charm we have grown to love (or hate), as on the song “Abysmal Depths Are Flooded.”

However, Malefic does depart slightly from his usual sound with a much more straight forward black metal sound as on the song, “May Your Void Become As Deep As My Hate.” Although still hypnotizing to a point, this song focuses much more upon his vocals and a constant and slow drum beat, that is very different than the preceding song, which focused upon very fast, drum machine induced, beats. Claiming that Malefic never departs from his usual routine is claiming that one does not listen to the music closely enough. When appreciating Black Metal of this sort, it is important to not use it as background music, but listen to each part of the song and appreciate every component individually and collectively at the same time. I think this is what Xasthur’s art is trying to accomplish and I for one appreciate it’s seemingly minimalist complexity.

The album overall is a worthy addition to the discography, however not a place I would recommend one start his journey with Xasthur, as some of the songs are a let down, like the title track which could have been so much more than what it ended up being. This truly is a band one either hates or loves, as music of this sort very much depends on what kind of listener you are. If you take pleasure in understanding each individual part of a song and appreciate the individuality of each element of the music, then Xasthur is the band for you, if you are at least open to understanding or appreciating music of this caliber, then I recommend picking up The Funeral of Being as the album to start off with.

Telepathic With The Deceased, in general, although not a classic album, is a solid Black Metal and Xasthur release and should be picked up when seen in a store. It is an album that offers something relatively new in each song if you are attentive enough to distinguish it. It’s not an album I would necessarily go out of my way to obtain, but ultimately I am satisfied that I had the opportunity in listening to yet another one of Malefic’s sick and demented offerings.

Xasthur is constantly credited as being "Suicidal Depressive Black Metal", which I think is a sad label to have especially for the quality of the atmosphere and euphoria Malefic is capable of inducing. His earlier works are probably too raw in production for most, especially because raw production and poorly programmed drums do not mix. It often seemed like the quality of the recording was bad on purpose to make the presence of the drum machine less noticable. In any case, after Nocturnal Poisoning, Xasthur definitely made it's name in Black Metal supremacy. The question was, would he be able to follow up with a solid release?

2 albums later, the answer is "Eh".

The CD opens with probably the best keyboard intro any band has ever done. It is perfect to set the mood for an ominous and depressive journey into Xasthur's dark nihility.
So, all those menacing words aside, the next song is totally boring. There is a very repetitive and obviously fake blastbeat in the beginning, and again, though the production makes the instruments more decipherable, it calls much attention to Malefic's sad inability to program drums. This song is called "Slaughtered Useless Beings in a Nihilistic Dream".... yeah, so he isn't really known for his particularly original subject matter. This song is boring.
"Abysmal Depths Are Flooded" is boring as well. It has a bit more variation in the riffs, but it opens with that repetitive, mechanical blastbeat again.
Finally, a good song comes along. The seemingly ineptly titled, "May Your Void Become As Deep As My Hate!" (o.O) is a great track, but is too short. It's very catchy, even though it is only two actual parts. The programmed drums really make this song sound kind of retarded, because every time the riffs change, you can tell that the drum toms are totall fake and computerized, as if he used GarageBand 2.0 to make this.
The rest of this CD is exactly the same, but there could be credit given to how amazingly trance inducing the melodies are. Xasthur should make ambient music, not black metal, because if you really sit and listen to the next songs, you will notice that everything is based off of the same repeating melodies with slight variations inbetween. So it's either very soothing and hypnotic, or very boring and repetitive.
This CD also boasts the least semblance to Burzum. In that, I think, is a good thing; This is where Xasthur began to find it's own identity. Unfortunately, this was not the best start.
The clean(er) production makes this release more accessible, and gives it more dimension, but in the end removes a lot of it's black metal edge.

A good listen if you are in a relatively lucid mood.

The title track "Entrance Into Nothingness" has to be one of the most honourable intro tracks I have heard. It delivers exactly what it presents - depth. Xasthur was originally a Black Metal band; at the moment, a one man depressive Black Metal project. There is nothing to compare it to. Nothing. Even Leviathan is a bit too fast for this. It has the atmosphere of depressive folk black/doom metal. Amazing. Sheer brilliance.

Although this album is a wall of noise at times, other times it can take only a simple listen to hear what is happening behind the noise. The guitar work on the third track, "Abysmal Depths Are Flooded" is astounding, as the reverb takes over the three or four guitar tracks overlapping one another. There's no mud here, I would disagree with many reviews I have read for this album. It's merely that Malefic, Xasthur's instrumentalist and only songwriter, has arranged the tracks much differently than on "Nocturnal Poisoning" or "The Funeral of Being", the two previous Xasthur full-lengths. It's a very interesting and different take on Black Metal altogether.

The lyrics are still the most interesting aspect of this album altogether. Although I cannot say it is Melefic's most astonishing lyrical approach, "Murdered Echoes of the Mind" presents an interesting arrangement in lyrical structure and vocal pattern structure. This immense wall of sound stimulates the mind to produce mangificent imagery based on simple mournful poetry. Some of the most captivating Xasthur vocals I have heard to this day, this album deserves a 9/10 from me. The only obstacle I have is getting over the wall of multi-layered patterns existing in certain songs. It's not necessarily a negative asset, but certainly an interesting take within this genre. Highly recommended songs for a simple introduction to this release are "Telepathic With the Deceased" and "Slaughtered Useless Beings in a Nihilistic Dream".

© CanadianMetal.com 2006

Each Xasthur release is special in its own way. Nocturnal Poisoning created an epic depressive atmosphere, The Funeral of Being dragged the listener into a realm beyond human perception, and the object of this review, Telepathic with the Deceased, takes the listener into a ghost realm, where humanity slowly dies and sorrow overcomes.

This is Xasthur's most depressing release. It creates an occultic atmosphere around it that reall affects even the speakers. This is difficult to explain, but listening to this album has always been an intense experience for me. Particularly in the dark when submerged in my own emotions of sorrow and despair. This album creates an esoteric, oblique view of life and emotions that must be how ghosts or spirits feel to wander around in a seething mass of humanity. The hateful quality is intense but again it is very abstract and difficult, like with Burzum. Certainly the Burzum comparisions towards Xasthur have always been over heating, for Xasthur takes a more obvious influence from the Black Legions, but the Black Legions have always been more underground, and most who reviewed this album were obviously illiterate to the LLN and thus took the easy way out.

Indeed this creates the same ancient atmosphere as the bands of eld, but Xasthur brings something so original and unique to his style, that I can never help but to be amazed by the atmosphere and feeling that is deep within this record. Far from a dissapointment, and very far from being mediocre, this release is simply more obscure, and less pleasing for many. But I say ignore them, and judge for yourself. This album is in my mind a classic album, and is perhaps one of the greatest musical statements of black metal since 1996.

This being Xasthur's only release on the hardly respectable label Moribund, I think people take it as a warning sign of a bad album. Despite this, I find this to be Xasthur's best release. The sound is similar to The Funeral of Being, but has all original tracks with more interesting use of bass lines, acoustic/synth leads, and excellent distortion (sometimes two distinguishable riffs at once). The riffs are always open, and the distortions flow perfectly with the other instruments. It does not break apart or stray from the current of the sound. As all the sounds move over eachother in a syncronized layered fashion, a strong and solid atmosphere is conveyed. The drum machine is less irritating than usual, but mostly just because the rest of the music is more enjoyable. The album as a whole feels more conceptual than just a collection of separate works. Each track is a different movement (for classical geeks) all working as one large piece. It is consistently good throughout.

The only way I believe this album can be described as is the soundtrack to floating down the Styx into Hell. “Entrance into Nothingness” is an amazing introductory passage that conjures a scene so dark in your mind that you can almost feel the fires of Hell burning around you. Well, so far, so good; Malefic has me hooked at this point. Then, all of a sudden, something goes wrong. Is it the raw production, strange vocals, balance of the instruments? None of the above, though they are all present, those elements are done correctly and in great proportion. However…I can’t say the same for the songwriting. What was on track for another great release falls short due to lack of songwriting skills. It seems like he used all of his artistic energy and his best ideas in maybe 2 or 3 of the tracks and just hastily threw the others carelessly together.

There are a few reasons that I still enjoy this album however. One is for Malefic’s originality. The other is for reasons unknown. This album has somehow left a good impact on me, and it comes back to me a lot, even when I don’t listen to it. Something lies within this CD that’s gives it a good replay value, even if I can’t imagine why. This is without a doubt, not one of his best attempts but it’s still worth a spin or two if you happen to wander across it. (Jason Carnage)

When people first heard this album, there was a sudden "rush" of disappointment that I did not, do not, and probably will never understand. They called it boring, trite, overdone, etc. I fail to understand this. What we have here is yet another serving of cold, dark and depressive black metal-- an atmosphere much like that which flows throughout Xasthur's other releases. Yet this is executed much differently.

For starters, you have the production. For Xasthur, it is pretty damn good. Still, it still sounds cold and grim as ever. TWTD's production is perfectly fitting and gives Xasthur's music a new feeling.

Now for the actual music. The vocals, for one, are great. They are a lot lower in the mix this time around (well, when you compare it to TFOB and AGTBM), and still have the tortured, dark sound as they've always had. They also fit the music better on this album; for some reason, most of Xasthur's other material seemed to have vocals that were good, but never 100% fitting.

The guitar riffs are, as always, awesome. Just listen to the riffs of "Slaughtered Useless Beings in a Nihilistic Dream" and tell me that it's 'boring'. That song has some of the coldest, most despair-filled riffs I've heard. The majority of the riffs on TWTD sound quite different from the usual Xasthur riff. Take, for example, the intro riff for "Abysmal Depths Are Flooded". Now, I don't mean this in a bad way, but your average Xasthur riff usually has a slow, melancholic, funeral-ish feel to it. This riff sounds nothing like that. It actually gives me some hope that Malefic might try out a new approach to BM. Not that I want Xasthur to change completely, but something fresh might be nice.

People have complained about the drums and bass being awful. What the hell? For one, bass is obviously not one of the most important aspects of Xasthur, nor is it in the countless other "raw" BM bands out there. You can't complain about bass being inaudible in one album and then praise another album when it clearly contains the same flaw. In all honesty, you cannot hear the bass very well, but it matters not; like I said before, it's obviously not important to Xasthur's music. As for the drums... I just can't see what is "wrong" with them. They, as always, fit the music perfectly, and do nothing, in any way, to take away from the quality of the music.

To make it clear, Telepathic With the Deceased is NOT a bad album in anyway. It's not boring, it's not trendy, it's just... different. Give it a listen, but with an open mind. You'll be satisfied.

This new release from Malefic proves to be a serious let down for me. Having thoroughly enjoyed the past full-lengths and having high hopes for the new one has left me with nothing but complaints. First off, the vocals, my personal favorite aspect of Xasthur, seem to be buried underneath the music. A horrible mix has left the voice of pain and agony stifled in the background. My second complaint would be that the music itself has slowed considerably, with the exception of the first few tracks. The music sounds more doom influenced than black, very disheartening. Third complaint is that even the better tracks are still lacking. Quality and effort were definitely forgotten on this release. The music seems watered-down and run of the mill now, each track blending together without any of the standout points that make Xasthur so keen to the ear. My last complaint would have to be the cover, which just doesn't strike anything for me. In summary, the sickeningly depressive work of the past has lost its edge this time around, being replaced with something boring and painful to listen to. Maybe this is what Malefic intended or maybe he has lost the touch or given up. Either way, this new release is extremely disappointing.

Standout tracks (aside from the intro and exit, which are quite enjoyable):

Slaughtered Useless Beings In a Nihilistic Dream
Abysmal Depths Are Flooded
Telepathic with the Deceased