If you’ve ever seen an ocean, and it’s not unreasonable that someone reading hasn’t, you know the incredible force standing in front of you is insurmountable. There are sections of ocean unexplored, cloaked in blackness with creatures potentially lurking that we cannot fathom. It can be a terrifying thought when you realize how tiny you are in comparison.
Swiss black metal phantoms Schammasch clearly understand the power and might, and they once again transfer that to their weighty, yet mind-numbing creations on “The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean.” This, their fifth full-length, actually is a direct descendant of their 2017 EP “The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite” as it also references Les Chants de Maldoror, written by Comte de Lautréamont and released in the late 1860s. I would explain my understanding of this text, but no one wants to hear me ramble on and try to make sense of the themes and story involved. Google, man. Anyway, the band—vocalist/guitarist C.S.R, guitarists M.A and J.B, bassist P.D, drummer B.A.W—pays great homage to the ocean, realizing the gulf of difference in size between that body of water and any singular human, and deepening the mystery of what lurks in its miles and miles of total darkness.
“Crystal Waves” is the 13:37-long opener and longest track on the record, and it begins clean, waves crashing, the aura building slowly and suspensefully. C.S.R. recites his words, and then the singing lands and swoops deep into dark valleys. The playing trickles as the howls take off heads, punches thrown as the madness snarls in the air. The drama finally calms, waters washing over again, and then the playing wrenches all over, the drums rumbling as the tempo plasters, melodies crashing to the shore. “A Somber Mystery” is a quick instrumental that swims well below the surface, eeriness at every push through the inky black, classic guitars prodding and spilling into “Your Waters Are Bitter” that has guitars pushing and pulling, screams rippling through your nervous system. The playing is savagely fluid, the singing fluttering and entering into a driving hellscape, channeled rage punishing the earth. The vocals bellow, then turning into static-rich wails, the pace picking up dangerously as drums clobber, the shrieks tearing down dimensions. Guitars chug as cataclysmic visions tunnel, colors rushing and fading.
“They Have Found Their Master” starts in deliberate fashion, guitars simmering and gaining heat, tornadic pressure making its way in, C.S.R. howling, “You cannot enter here, to know your place and accept your lot.” The vocals turn to cold singing, but the punishment increases, the cry of, “Old ocean, you are so powerful that men have learned this to their own cost,” sending chills, lava pooling beneath the waters. Kathrine Shepard (Sylvaine) lends her powerful voice, adding drama and majesty, everything dissolving. “Image of the Infinite” basks in clean echoes, singing floating, spoken lines swimming in the haze, haunting visions leading to 10:51-long closer “I Hail You, Old Ocean” that begins super charged. Singing drives as the pace rips everything apart, crazed howls rampaging, feeling slightly raspy and venomous. The tempo is furious and spirited, fluid leads driving through the veins, the melodies bubbling over the rim. Singing warbles as the pace storms and spirals, swelling calls shivering, a symphonic burst bringing the end.
Schammasch’s tribute to the great oceans is the cinematic, thunderous statement you expect from this band, and it’s impossible to walk away and not feel in awe. “The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean” not only does well by its source material, it also embodies the vastness of great bodies of water, a force that always will dwarf humankind. This is music for a great exploration in your mind, something that can add power and glory to your dreams of entering places never explored before.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/SCHAMMASCH/
To buy the album, go here: https://shop.prostheticrecords.com/
For more on the label, go here: https://prostheticrecords.com/
Meat Mead Metal 