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Panopticon > Social Disservices > Reviews > CrimsonFloyd
Panopticon - Social Disservices

Cinematic Anarchist Black Metal - 85%

CrimsonFloyd, March 12th, 2012

Panopticon is an act that has drawn a decent amount of attention in the black metal scene—mostly for Austin Lunn's overt anarchism. While extreme political ideology is nothing new in black metal, the genre has tended to lean toward the extreme right rather than the extreme left. However, if you take into account the prevalence of anti-modernism and the naturalistic leanings that run throughout the black metal scene, anarchist-black metal was only a matter of time. (Which begs the question, why are some fans so offended by anarchist black metal? But that’s another story…)

Panopticon has also made a name for itself with its integration of American folk into black metal. Who can forget the first time they heard "The Death of Baldr and the Coming War"? Waves of swirling tremolo are suddenly overtaken by the mellow tides of… bluegrass?! For all its originality, Lunn's blending of black metal and bluegrass hasn’t always made for smooth transitions. Was it novel? Absolutely. Did both aspects sound good when taken on their own? Definitely. Were the elements carefully integrated? Not exactly.

Thankfully, Lunn has paid a lot more attention to the overall flow of his third full-length, Social Disservices. Social Disservices runs through two distinct phases, creating an almost cinematic movement from beginning to end. The first twenty minutes are dark, gritty US black metal in the vein of Leviathan and early Xasthur. The production is dense, with the instruments tightly packed atop of one another. There are lots of dreary melodies and deep, unarticulated growls. Everything feels cold, lost and alienated. Lunn’s percussion is powerful, cutting through the soundscape like a tank propelled by rockets. There are some folk elements, but instead of standing in sharp contrast to the black metal, they are built into the metallic compositions. The results are impressive, especially the haunting string passages in “Resident”.

The third track, “Subject” works as an interlude, beginning with five minutes of blackened industrial (for a short moment Panopticon sounds like Blut Aus Nord). The album’s cold, alienated spirit reaches its apex behind a march of mechanical beats and distorted vocals. Then, from out of the depths of detached industrialism arise the cathartic sounds of post-black metal. “Subject” finishes with a life-affirming buildup toward glorious high notes. The sprawling closer, “Patient” gently sways through lamenting melodies that are accentuated with strings, female vocals and jazzy percussion.

No doubt, Social Disservices lacks the shock and awe of Collapse or the free-spirited attitude of the self-titled debut. However, the intelligent compositions and the album’s dramatic flow more than compensate. The stark moods and melodies bring the lyrics to life, painting pictures of a violent, inhumane society. On the downside, Lunn continues his bad habit of at times being overly derivative; there are a few passages that sound as if they were plucked right off of Xasthur and Godspeed albums. It’s too bad, because Lunn obviously has enough of his own ideas that he need not be so reliant on treaded paths. Still, taken as a whole, Social Disservices is the strongest and most mature Panopticon release to date.

(Originally written for www.deafsparrow.com)