For some reason when it gets around my birthday, my mood sours, and I feel about as bad as I do all year. It’s not the aging. I’d rather age than not, even if everything is spiraling out of control before our eyes. It’s just living up to expectation, mostly ones I put on myself, and I want to find a way to crawl out and rewire.
Swiss experimental cult Death. Void. Terror. have proved a good companion for this mind-set, as their new, expansive third record “To the Great Monolith III: Rifts” has been welcome music for when I want to melt my brain into a puddle and pretend that another plane of existence is possible. This strange, illuminating collection of five tracks and 47 minutes is anything but packed with sick riffs and screams and brutality, and wait, don’t leave. It’s heavy in a different that squeezes your brain and reorganizes your electronic impulses in a manner that might press you into the ground but also helps filter your frustrations.
“I. (– — – — -) Gözdyrey” is instantly immersive, pulling you into damp clouds as howls rip, eerie strangeness moving into cool swimming, haunting chants working down your spine. The energy pounds and pounces with waves that challenge you mentally, your mind squeezed forcefully as your emotions peak. Growls tangle as terror spreads, calm chants echo, and everything bellows into “II. (- — – –) Ids Elrekis Frakhetir” that treads in drone. High calls stretch as grunts level, a mesmerizing dream encapsulating your senses, a hypnotic stream swelling and flooding. Guitars build steam before noises punch out, fluid strangeness bleeds into space, glistening as energy pops, and synth trumpets the oncoming cataclysm that will devour you whole.
“III. (— — -) Asgadon Odewäl” liquifies, off-key synth eating your psyche, nightmarish visions spreading as growls crumble, and organs slide into dripping weirdness. The playing gives off a regal feel, strange fogs choke, keys glaze, chants ripple down your spine as the spirit moves into “IV. ( – – –) Flukhetor.” Alien calls beckon as group calls encircle, a primitive essence driving into your dream world, singing calling as shrill cries peel flesh. The pace plods and teases your mind, calls flatten, and even some bizarre whistling chills, spilling into murk. Closer “V. (– —) Daphnyr” brings guitars reverberating, and the sounds moving into the stars, a warped voice calls from beyond, doom horns darken. Howls crawl as the doom thickens, pressurization builds, and then noise swarms, crumbling as keys bathe in stagnant pools, voices echoing into a different dimension.
“To the Great Monolith III: Rifts” requires patience on your part as well as a willingness to delve deep into your subconsciousness as these sounds wash over you. There are metal elements woven into the pieces, but for the most part, your head is in a thick, black cloud, allowing you to see into realities previously hidden. Death. Void. Terror. provide a challenge and an opportunity to stretch your mental capacities and expand your nightmares.
For more on the band, go here: https://deathvoidterror.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://sentientruin.com/releases/death-void-terror-to-the-great-monolith-iii-rifts
For more on the label, go here: https://sentientruin.com/
Meat Mead Metal 