Taking the cheese away from the keys.
Xasthur’s Defective Epitaph is the inverted cousin of Hawkwind’s Space Ritual. Both albums carry a feeling of being in space, but whereas Hawkwind fully embraced the cosmos, Xasthur seem terrified by all the openness. This contrast is present in the majority of Malefic’s albums, but it has never sounded more terrifying and bleak than in his newest.
One of Xasthur’s strengths is the eerie use of keyboards, and Defective Epitaph is no exception. Whereas most keyboards in black metal add nothing more than a false sense of “symphonic,” Malefic manages to actually create atmosphere. They create a psychedelic element much like Burzum’s hypnotic guitars in Hvis Lyset Tar Oss. In “Dehumanizing Process,” Malefic manipulates the technology to create distant church bells and a sunken angelic choir. “Unblessed Be” is augmented by a perverted church organ. “Purgatory Spiral” has a synth backdrop that combines the darkness of Lustmord with the subtle swells of Growing. The common thread in all of the songs is that the synths give off an open vibe, but not necessarily openness to be embraced. Rather, the frontier opened is terrifying, an absurd pleasure. This is not to say that the guitars don’t give off a disturbing vibe too, but they would feel incomplete without the keyboards.
Malefic’s vocals flow with the chaotic nature of his compositions. He’s clearly giving it his all, but he also sounds as if he’s on the breaking point of asphyxiation. Typical of most extreme metal records, you can’t understand a damn thing he’s saying, and that’s the way it should be. It’s much more about the anguished feeling, which he pulls off with conviction, than what he’s actually saying. Most notably, in “Malignant Prophecy,” Malefic's screams are like a furious wind howling at your worthlessness. He sounds even more claustrophobic than he did on Sunn O)))’s Black One (In case you’re not acquainted with black metal folklore, he locked himself in a coffin when recording vocals for “Bathorty Erzebet”).
As cliché as this sounds, you really must listen to this album in total darkness, unless you absolutely need candlelight. Totally recommended.
| Reviewer: Andy O'Connor Added: November 2nd 2007 |
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