Phlebotomized is, undoubtedly, one of the most important bands of the progressive-extreme genre. They can definitely be included in the list of pioneers, because besides them at that time (do not forget that the album was recorded and composed in 1992 and faced some complication with release), only a very few bands like Swanö's Pan.thy.monium and Babylon Sad were playing something at such a high level and materialized it with means more complicated than simple tradable tape. Taking inspiration from such acts as Nocturnus, Pestilence ´91 and Paradise Lost (I bet they also had the self-released "Kyrie" by the aforementioned Babylon Sad, there's some similarities too), the band of 7 talented guys released their first professionally recorded mini-album. By that time the band, led by Tom Palms and Lawrence Payne, had two high-level demo recordings on their shoulders, and having got a full-fledged studio at their disposal soon after, they were ready to go all out, improving the sound quality of instruments and synthesizers.
The sound here is really good - every instrument (except, perhaps, the accompanying violin+keyboard part on track "Preach Eternal Gospels") is in its place and in its time, you don't feel any empty places or unsatisfying ear piercing moments. You just dive headfirst into this EP, listening to every detail contently, this time in great quality. As for Phlebotomized's music, at least for me personally, it has a special, almost supernatural ability to hold the listener's attention throughout, despite its intricacy and solid track length. For me, who is not always eager to bite through long opuses like Opeth's oversaturated art-rocky dishes or The Project Hate MCMXCIX's dragged-out songs, the band is unusually easy to digest. All the avant-garde elements are not some insurmountable obstacle to listen through. The music is still pretty close to its death body frame, with blastbeats and edgy death riffs of all speeds with a slight but even more oppressive distortion, and this EP foreshadows the course that the new variation of the band will take after the reunion. Barry Schuyer's vocals are a simple brutal growl, holding similarities to the sound of Incantation's Craig Pillard and Frank Mullen. The keys form a very beautiful and mesmerizing accompaniment. To point out the few of album's highlights - there's simply divine interlude in "Mustardgas", unexpected folk retreat in the final of the title song, guitar-keyboard intro and solo in the track "Tragic Entanglement" (which was taken over from the demo and filtered through, being remastered slightly), and soft, melancholic intro and outro. Ah, screw the haters, the whole mini-album was a highlight. Take it. There are really almost no weak places (not even songs, places!) on the record. Everything can be listened to in one take.
So in the end we have a breakthrough work in terms of atmosphere and progressive-brutal elemental balance with an extremely successful inclusion of avant-garde elements and keyboards. The guys had just limitless potential. There is hardly any other band that definitely had the strength and deserved the highest place in the pantheon of death metal. We can only admire the old and (with a little less enthusiasm) new works of Palms and company, and cowardly scold the retired drummer Lawrence Payne, who, according to the known information, fell into the grasp of "eternal gospels" he once had been calling out for their flaws so witty... Guess, it's "Fate of a Devotee".
Originally written for https://www.darkside.ru/album/10199/
Phlebotomized is one of those bands that takes hold of its listener (well, at least me!) and invites a great deal of attention. They were a very strange musical group that was quite honestly ahead of their time. In some ways their ideas were not well served by the budget limitations that they had to deal with on all of their recordings. But like true artists, they managed to overcome this and made several key albums in the progressive death metal history.
This EP contains two tracks (the last two) from the earlier demo “Devoted to God” as well as three new tracks. I threw down 70 bones to get a hold of one of these babies (supposedly only like 2000 or so exist) and I can say that it was worth it beyond the fact that it is a rarity. It is a crushing and unique release that should be checked out by the band’s fans and newcomers to the blood drawing clinic that is Phlebotomized. Hell, I didn’t even know there was a word for blood drawing before I came across this group around a year ago! Talk about vocabulary booster!
For listeners who are familiar with this group and are looking for more material to listen to, this release sounds much closer to “Immense Intense Suspense” than to “Skycontact” which should come as no surprise due to its chronological date of release. What makes it different is that the production is of a lower quality than those two masterpieces (if you haven’t listened to them, stop reading this and do so!) and the fact that there is little to no violin. Instead, a keyboard fills in where the listen would expect a violin if it were “IIS”. The keys are weakest link of the album but they still work quite well in many sections. This happens in a lot of metal from the time that had higher ambitions than many of its brethren so I take this weakness with a grain of salt.
The riffs in “Mustardgas” and the other album tracks are quite awesome to be simply put, and well please any metal fan who likes his death metal old school. It definitely sounds full of wonder and darkness, something that most modern death metal lacks. The performances from all the members are also all very good as well as they are full of energy and emotion. The vocals are also very good and fun to growl along with.
The speed of the release varies from very doomy slow sections to some blast-beating from the kit and squealing from the lead guitars. The grind influences come through in these speedier parts and bring to mind dISEMBOWELMENT and other doom/grind hybrids. Some of the transitions are clumsy, but as with their later releases this suddenness becomes rather pleasing to the ear because the band is very talented even at this mid-period stage in their development and make it work.
The lyrics are as usual very strong and thoughtful (if a bit cumbersome, especially in the title track) and will make you think. It makes me sad that there is a very limited amount of material from this group because they really did have a unique way of expressing themselves and I wonder where they would have taken us after “SkyContact.” This album and the rest of group’s catalog is essential listening for metal fans who want something both kvlt and of a high quality. Good luck in finding a copy and enjoy!