This was dipped in black metal flavoring, but it has more than one drum beat, and the vocals aren’t the faggy screeching of someone trying to be like Edith Bunker from “All in the Family.”
The production is still a bit on the black metal side, favoring treble, and there are the usual dissonant chords. Here and there a bit of atmospherics get added. In one song, the vocals vaguely remind me of the first Infernal Majesty album.
My favorite song is “LXFR” which is the most unique on the album. That should be your gateway into the rest of the music.
This is a dirty, muddy sort of death metal. The vocals sound like a wounded boar, which is interesting, and for me, this is the chief selling point of the album. It is a dying beast that I hear.
The insistent pounding of the drums is interspersed with thick, oozing sludge. The production isn’t very pretty, but that is because it delivers an atmosphere of ugliness.
This monstrous music is hard to compare to others, which is good. It can be safely added to your metal diet without side effects.
The last time when I heard something with a slightly similar feeling was the band “Black Pentacost” which featured anguished yelling, as of someone being tortured. The music seemed to serve as a ritual rather than as songs.
This album bears some of that, but there are words, and the vocals are more varied, sometimes sounding like psychotics who are wailing while suffering mental horrors, and at other times there is black metal rasping or spoken words, but each flavor is heavily demented. This is like a legion of demons.
The strangeness of this album is enough to merit a purchase. The dark creativity and the atmosphere of derangement provide immense pleasure if heard in the right mood. then again, simply listening can place you where you must be.
Woebegone Obscured – The Forestroamer (Aesthetic Death)
This is an older album, but I must review it because I have only discovered the album a few months ago, and if I was unaware of this excellence, there is a chance that you may also have somehow lived without this music. I am seeking out their other works, but this CD on Aesthetic Death is a must-have in any doom-lover’s collection.
I really need not tell you anything other than to just go buy it. The album has all that you would ever desire of a doom band with death metal vocals (as well as parts that have clean singing, which are quite fitting to those passages, like the words, “Beyond this world there is a hope the sun will burn a sign for you”).
Each flavor is measured and applied only in the amounts that are needed. The ear is constantly stimulated this way. Tempo changes not only snap the ear out of the abyss, the transformation is sometimes frightening, deepening the darkness. Indeed, this is even sung, “Nothing but the dark to live for.”
One of the songs has lyrics that are presumably in Danish (this is a band from Denmark).
I am still shocked that I had not been made aware of this album, or band, until now. This is why it is good to take chances on music. You need only yourself and a willingness to explore. I found this album by going on the Aesthetic Death web site (https://www.aestheticdeath.com) in search of any music by the band ESOTERIC that I may have not heard about, and yes, I found their demo double CD, but I kept snooping around and investigated their other releases. THE FORESTROAMER is one of the albums I decided to support, and I am incredibly happy that I did, even though it is the anthem of my sorrow for now.
This is quite an odd album. When I first heard a random spot, I expected black metal, and indeed, I did get the sense that this comes from that world, but the album has no known category, which is good.
The voices are not the screechy bitch-vocals of black metal – they are more on the exasperated shouting side, mixed with the melancholy folk sort of singing.
The music ranges from unusual timing and long riffs. to more straightforward and recognizable passages, but the songs seem to have been made to put the listener in a strange place. Even the upbeat portions have something twisted going on, as if a mad clown attempted to play something catchy, but is so bonkers that the otherwise accessible tune becomes demented.
There are bursts of aggression, but that’s just an ingredient in this insanity-potion, not the main flavor. Add to this, non-English lyrics, making this a welcome visit to another realm.
This is not a metal album, but it deserves a review here because it is odd, and because it is creative. The music also has a lot of impressive guitar playing, so those who might get a whiff of something commercial should be glad that even if this were a mainstream offering, guitar is prominent, not absent, as it is in pop. I must state that this cannot possibly be a contrived commercial album but I can understand if you detect some aspects that of hit music, but the execution is just too bizarre for simpleton mainstreamers to embrace.
Each song is a different adventure into Kookoo Land, so it’s not like one tune can define the album. The part of me that loves novelty music is stimulated by what I hear, but so is the musician, and of course, I can’t help but admire the exploration and creativity.
I will include a sample here, but you should understand that this is only one song. I didn’t find a video for one of the more dexterous songs, but I suppose that if nothing of this sample resonates with you then you will probably not be a good candidate for the reward of the rest of the album.
This is a well-produced technical death metal album, and I enjoyed listening to it, but there are some things that are a tad gay. The vocals sometimes stray into the high-screeching zone, which is not very masculine. It’s what one would expect to hear from someone who was bitch-slapped. But this is not the only band that features this vocal approach. I don’t know where it started, but it must stop. If vocalists want to show range, then they should learn how to sing. Help end this womanly screeching.
My other gripe is the straying into adult contemporary music. The only reason why I like this is because I also enjoy novelty music, but it gets tiring when it is in almost every song. The bass seems to think it is smooth jazz at times. Again, it’s fun, but it takes me out of the heaviness.
Aside from the gayness, there is a lot to savor on headphones. It is almost dizzying at times for there is a lot going on. Some of the segments are quite rich. This is no simple record, even though there are some moments that have mercy on the ear that tries to follow what is going on. It’s a record that requires repeated listening. I haven’t invested the time for that magical moment of complete familiarity to occur, but I assure you that I will attain that level.
