Emptiness - Nothing But The Whole [2014]

It's always interesting to witness the evolution of a band from its primordial aesthetics slowly, gradually into the manifestation of something almost inexcusably darker and emotive. Such has been the case with Emptiness on their fourth full-length ''Nothing But The Whole''. As group whose talent and experience in the fields of extreme metal reach sizable proportions through their affiliations with other Belgian projects such as the notorious Enthroned, and as one which had successfully harnessed the currents of the sound which they'd been striving to execute with their latest offering in 2012, I was quite confounded by the amount of experimental touches that adorned and bedecked each and every lugubrious corner of this record. Has traditional black/death come to and end? Has the tradition of wild, promiscuous goats and satanic ghouls raping whores suddenly been outed by depression and emotional catharsis? Far from it I imagine, as certain flag bearers such as Diocletian and Teitanblood still produce material akin to that ravenous, diabolic sub-genre has promoted, but some, like Emptiness choose to follow a somewhat different path...

This is not the French Revolution here, mind you, but we're still talking about certain stylistic changes. It's almost as if the primitiveness that the band had since their very first recording been eventually exfoliated and wreathed out of the body with every release, with the evolution finally making an abrupt stop at ''Nothing But the Whole'', whose almost indolently suicidal and depressive title bears fruit pertaining to the changes in the band's course. Indeed, Emptiness never quite was inundated in the same grime and blasphemy of the aforementioned acts, being somehow more modern and refined; but this never prevented it from bedeviling the listener with sinister, crushing riffs or atmospheric feats. So then, if we're not in for those, what can we expect of ''Nothing But the Whole''? Well, if I may be so bold, we're expecting a forecast of cantankerous termagency, floods of subtle emotions, pacing through an unaccustomed fervor for experimental details, and the same suicidal, depressive motive that the title bears overridden with a paranoid discrepancy that in some way penalizes the band's consistency in return.

I know, that's a quite a bit to take in, and all will be explained, eventually. What Emptiness is essentially doing here is marginalizing its own set of influences and unique sounds to a single piece that quite doesn't fit into any other kind of door. We're talking drone metal. Absurd guitar distortions and dissonances. Weary waves of serpentine black/death. Groove-like drum patterns. Industrial soundscapes. Indeed, there's no denying that the Belgians have strained their imagination in many perceivable ways to the point where it would be rather difficult to dub them as simplistic or platitudinous anymore. But, - and here's the big question - does originality always sum up to quality? I think even the ignorant schoolboy would be aware that the answer is no. Hell, comparing this to 2012's ''Error'' or their 2007 opus ''Oblivion'' I felt the band had been sapped of its succulence and vitality so much that they were in some respects just recycling material from their previous releases with the speed dropped to a lower gait and with a few oddities attached here and there. Yes, it's pretty obvious that they were going for a less sincere, and, I daresay, more ''spiritual'' sound, and while they do manage to do just that, they flounder in the consistency department, as well as lacking the incentives to produce something just plainly memorable.

I may have demeaned these guys a little more than I ought to, what can I say? How does one go from ''Oblivion'', with its massive roiling guitars and melodic sesibility, to something that's more on par with the average sludge/drone doom band? It's certainly not terrible, however: you've got tracks like the opener ''Go and Hope'' where the replacement of muscular, grinding attributions don't seem to have taken any kind of toll, with ghostly, harrowing melodies accompanying the lurching guitars, and for some the album as a whole may have a particular appeal due to the sheer continuity of the discomfiture, but I doubt anyone whose interest don't fall under Ulcerate, Flourishing or Triptykon will be particularly taken by this. In a way, I faced a dilemma where I couldn't decide whether I wanted to love or hate the album - the doomed poignancy of tracks like the finale ''Lowland'' was beautiful, but something like the megalithic ''All is Known'' almost bored the fuck out of me - so in the end I decided that I was stuck in between. This album, beyond the snarling, harassing vocals, seems like a serious departure from black as well, which could mark the band's sojourn into pure-death metal territory, but that discussion is for another day. For now, folks, try to enjoy ''Nothing But the Whole''. It has its good moments, but lacks the polish of the previous records too much to be something overwhelmingly good. Maybe some Belgian ale would be good?

Highlights:
Lowland
Go and Hope
Tale of a Burning Man

Rating: 67%

Xpulsion - War Is Imminent

Thrash  has been gimmicked and manipulated so many times that at times I find it hard to separate each band from each other, and even worse, I’m pretty sure what the ‘’Old school thrash’’ sounded like, that was, until Belgium’s most latter brigands knocked against my door. Belgium was a chest full of treasures in the past, housing great old school acts like Patriarch, Target, Cyclone and Yosh, but let us put all those aside, for Xpulsion sound nothing like their forefathers and fellow countryman, driving their crusty edge towards the classic Bay Area sound with a tinge of vicious 80’s speed/thrash, and their demo, ‘’War Is Imminent’’ bears for tracks encrusted of atomic aggression and sordid chugging, nothing more, nothing less.

I’m actually quite content with the ‘’old school’ worshiping done here, because melodic and modern thrash is becoming an increasingly popular trend these days, and one which just does not boast the family name. Technical/progressive elements have been scattered throughout the majority of the scene forcing them to slowly bend their knee to it, omitting the rigorous and sordid sound of the 80’s and early 90’s, and even when a band can join gritty guitar tones with propulsive, interactive textures, the execution is not done properly for the most part, and the experiment finalizes itself miserably once again. The number of thrash bands who take their job seriously have also diminished rapidly over the years, and so, many of the acts sew old school traits together are obsessed with beer and party, resulting in yet another fail. Xpulsion, however, sound surprisingly solid and crunchy for one that looks exactly like its peers, but looking down, with only a few minor tweaks and adjustments, the frantic spectrum of riffs expand into a much more versatile and savage nature,  disentangling itself from the cheesy roots it was once plagued with.

Honestly, it’s not an arduous job to carve out these riffs, because they lack for originality and the song writing process obviously did not take too long, but there’s a really propulsive spray of callous riffs, sharp and fresh, so you really can’t go wrong with these four songs. Influences are blatant as well, as the band hints the massive Exodus and Slayer influences quite frequently, but while you indulge yourself into the record, you’ll also notice a nice speed/thrash touch, forcing the album to sometimes take angular, sharp turns and twists. The four songs are packed with such massive and piercing riffs, but what surprised me is that the songs rang at over five minutes each, with two of them pending at eight minutes. This demo is fresh and dynamic, constant and shattering, and it sticks to the ‘’old school’’ sound of thrash (which is a notion I find queer), and while it’s devoid of the technical prowess that it requires to reach another level, it’ll punch through your skull with ease.

Highlights:

Anaconda Plan

Welcome To Yourself

Rating: 82,5%

Ringing Bell-Hospital Corners

Unfortuantely, the consistent flow of disgusting death/doomers ceased its effectiveness and perhaps this is because the bands fail to enter the radar of more mainstream audiances. Macabra, Undergand and Funebararum are some of the more prominent names in this disgusting band of glooming brigands, so tell me, what will we make of Ringing Bell? Their acute deliverance of ghastly death/doom falls far beyond perfect, and even short of good, and with such short an EP, I can't really come to a very decisive verdict about the bands overall performance. This is, after all, some decent death/doom, yet for some reason Ringing Bell haven't quite persuaded me to ultimately enjoy their concise effort, even though I have great adoration for the filthy death/doomers of the early 90's.

This EP has all the makings of a common a death/doom record, but there seems to be something missing in all this, mish mash of doomy chord sequences and glooming riffs. The tempo is set perfectly, having a balance between mid-paced stompers and crushing death/doom chompers, but I can't say the same thing about the quality of the riffs which are fit into these tempos. The Ep certainly doesen't boast variation and the riffs don't support one another, and although the music flows viscously, the riffs all follow similar patterns and there is nothing to spice things up, nothing to persuade the listener to hear the same thing again and again. I'm saying, that there's no highlight, no flamboyance or major attraction to pull the listener to it, instead a steady barrage of doom laden death metal riffs, overflowing with filth, corrupted with a fuzzy tone. I have to give the bands some credit for that. The most basic traits of old school death/doom are all here; the fuzzy, murky tone, the undeniable heft and crushing power of the riffs, the vocals, blending in nicely with the stomping heavy riffs in an utterly grotesque way, and there's also a fun amount of Sabbath worshipping riffs as ssen on ''I Am Blessed With The Throt Of French Kings, Encrusted With Golden Bee'', which by the way has a rediculously laughable title.

So, what I'm trying to say here is that this EP is actually quite good, or could be good once it's flourished and decorated with some nice highlights, more intricate riffing and complex song structures-all things that can be done with ease, but concentration. The EP's biggest gap is that it lacks the brooding, sinister and monstrously overwhelming atmosphere of great death/doom records (Anhedonist can be one of the most recent examples), and without good ambiance or atmophere, a death/doom album is almost dead in my eye, yet good thing that many traits of good death/doom has, only spread in a number that is simply not sufficient. I believe that Ringing Bell could move a huge step forward on their next release if they are cunning enough, but for now ''Hospital Corner'' remains as one of the less effective death/doom efforts of the last 5-6 years.

Highlight:
With Positive Actuator To Project And To Retract

Rating: 72%