I want to talk about alien cum. Now. Well, it’s not so much that I want to do that, but I have to discuss this, as today’s record is forcing my hand. OK, so let’s say all the religious stuff we were taught and even the scientific theory was all wrong. Instead, what if an alien specie planted their seed all over the universe, essentially creating universal life, only for our overlords to lie in wait to devour us whole?
It sounds like the work of an overzealous sci-fi author (and it’s not a new concept from a literary standpoint), but it’s also the basis of “Panspermic Warlords,” the second long player from the mind-flaying Wyrgher. On this record, the band—vocalist/guitarist/bassist/synth player Menetekel, drummer Voidgaunt—plays with the theory that life throughout the universe has a single source, and that force is lying in wait for their opportune moment to take over all of creation and make it their own. As you may have guessed, this would not be a peaceful operation. Surviving seems like a pipe dream, and anyone left scurrying for safety afterward likely would be an easy target.
“Dormant They Drift” starts as a spindly, proggy attack, growls wrenching as the guitars encircle, sounds shimmering in echo. A forceful assault emerges from that, clouds rise, and everything fades into a halo of chaos. “Destroyer of the Promethean Path” is the longest track, running 9:55 and entering amid a thick mist that makes vision a chore. Growls shake as the tempo ruptures, vicious turns makes your neck jerk, and sounds rush, heading for infernal pressure. The playing melts into a haze as the strangeness thickens and then lashes out, noise zaps, and an utterly strange state is achieved. A bizarre aura attempts to swallow you whole as things suddenly bathe in light before fading. “Solar Harvest” features guest vocals by Karapan Darvish (Arkhaaik, Dakhma, Lykhaeon), and the pace smashes and sizzles, moving faster, melting, and taking on detached wails. The guitars swelter as the pressure reverberates, growls cut at the knees, and the spiraling madness infects your blood and makes you see visions.
“Summoning the Meteoric Titans” is an interlude that opens in a synth haze, icing the senses and taking on alien transmissions, blurring out and heading into “Supreme Leader of a Dying Star” that runs 9:22 and immediately heads into warmth. The pressure mounts, the roars crush, and the mystifying craziness destroys, heading into disorienting clouds and a thick pit of sludge. The guitars stretch and tingle as the punishment multiplies, riffs looping and churning, heaviness pushing on rib cages, the sense of despair and terror growing, and the fires raging and finally exhausting. “The Weeping of a Blazing Rock” blasts in with guitars stabbing, spilling plasma and ripping into psyches, the growls warping the senses. Guitars lash as the blazing gets more ferocious, then the pace turns more reflective, jabbing and disappearing into a sound cloud. Closer “Panspermic Warlords” runs 9:28 and brings wildly sprawling guitars, crushing energy, and lasers zapping into flesh. Hypnotic charges makes the room spin, rushing and rupturing, the guitars icing your cells as the keys whir. We head back into weird terrain, the melodies get more immersive, and the final drops feel like ice drops landing on top of your exposed brain.
While the events baked into “Panspermic Warlords” might seem far-fetched, are they really? Who’s to say who’s watching us, if there are inhabitants on other planets, and any alien beings’ plans for us that might be devious and hellish, horrors like we can’t even imagine? Wyrgher manage to make a captivating and exciting record about such a plot, something that could tear us apart before we even knew what hit us. Grim.
For more on the band, go here: https://wyrgher.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: http://i-voidhanger.com/shop/
For more on the label, go here: http://i-voidhanger.com/
Meat Mead Metal 