Infernal Pandemonio

What we have here is a (very successful) alliance of Greeks and Czechs, a deviously hellish masterpiece of relentless back metal. The joined forces have worked wonders. The musical genius of Skylepthis (also known for his work on Eschaton and other bands) blends perfectly with the demoniacal vocals of Barbarud Hrom (from Maniac Butcher) resulting in a colossal album reminiscent of the first wave of Norwegian black metal (although it was recorded more than a decade later), alas with much more melody and epic feeling.

The riffs are the first thing that stick in your mind. Fast, melodic, heavy and barbarous, fill the whole album with repetitive sequences. You won't find complex song structures, you won't find female vocals, symphonic or avant-garde sounds. What you will find is intense, ravaging and merciless black metal. And this is the beauty of this album, Gottlos concentrate on a few things and they do them extremelly well. Take drumming for instance. Bloodthirsty, an incessant pounding machine that supports the bass and the riffs with religious reverence. Bass? You got it. It's not distinct (which black metal album is it distinct on?) but it's there, instilling the black metal feeling with persistent and emphatic repetition. Everything in this album reeks of authenticity and true-ness.

Is it a masterpiece? Well, this is a matter of preferences but if it isn't, it's very close to one. Is it worth the money? It definitely is. Get it if you want to have one more diamond in your record-case.

The thing that immediately drew me to this one-off black metal rarity was the presence of Czech snarler Barbarud Hrom (Maniac Butcher), who offers his vocals above the one man instrumental section of Synn (Skylepthis), a Greek musician who has played in Dodsferd, Darkthule and a number of other acts wedged even deeper into the underground. Sad to say then that this is a rather average stab at the style, with Hrom's painful, decrepit drawl slathered over mundane and unmemorable blast beats and typical, streaming tremolo guitar patterns that become pretty hard to distinguish in short order. The overall production is reminiscent of perhaps Transilvanian Hunger, or Ulver's buzzing masterwork Nattens Madrigal (though not as crude or difficult), monotonous and primal patterns that simply fall short of conjuring up a worthwhile experience.

That said, the intro here really threw me off. It's basically a trip hop beat with these glorious, operatic choir samples that contrast heavily against the streaming, barbaric vulgarity of the ensuing track "Mystis". The riffing varies very little, with only 2-3 sequences throughout, and it does little to inspire confidence for the rest of the record. There's nothing inherently 'wrong' with the writing, only that it aspires to nothing other than swelling the ranks of samey sounding cult black metal we've all heard a hundred times before, but probably with better composition that doesn't sound as if it could be thrown together in a half hour total. "A Nocturnal Monologue". "Kytheria (Astral in the Midnight)". "The Witches of Symposium". The titles reek of haunting, obscure evil, for certain, but the actual delivery is uninspired unless you're 100% dead set on expanding your collection of prosaic extremity. The slower "Wrath of Katachtonium" rocks out in some segments, but predictably so.

Curiously, the last track here is a Maniac Butcher cover... "Mesiasuv konec" from the 1995 Barbarians album (the cover was also included on a tribute to the Czechs). This creates a bit of a paradox...as we have Barbarud Hrom covering his own band. Does that even count as a cover? At any rate, Synn's treatment of the material doesn't supercede the charisma of the original, but the riffs and vocals here are admittedly superior to any of the Gottlos originals, and that makes me pretty sad. The production is appropriately tinny throughout, sure to sate those who like their underdeveloped authenticity in black metal, but the quality of writing just isn't here, and the duo themselves apparently concurred, as they never sought to give us a sequel. So unless you're looking for standard necrotic black metal album #thousandth-something to sit proudly upon your CD rack, I can't say there is much here worth seeking out.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com