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Xothist - Xothist

Xothist - 92%

Twin_guitar_attack, May 22nd, 2016

The self titled demo from one man black metal project Xothist is a very enigmatic release I stumbled across not long ago. Coming from USA they play an extremely raw, harsh and uncompromising form of DSBM, taking cues from Xasthur and Leviathan but upping the level of extremity in every aspect, but with great songwriting and melodic sensibilities under the sea of fuzz.

The forty minute demo is split into two "sides", A beginning inauspiciously with an off-kilter ambient intro, some unmelodious, almost clumsy clean guitar strumming with some barely audible noise in the background. It does create a somewhat eerie atmosphere, especially when the strumming fades away and the electronic noise ramps up at the three minute mark, a dense and fuzzy drone oscillating unsettlingly for a few minutes before the trebly scratch of the guitar softly makes it's way in, building into the black metal masterpiece that's to follow.

As previously mentioned the sound of the release is very harsh and raw. The lo-fi static-like production is perfect for this, the guitars coming across as a harsh trebly mess of distortion, the screamed vocals laced with effects to make them as undecipherable and raw as possible, sounding much similar to Xasthur's Malefic, the drums simple and quiet, while the bass is rather buried but still gives a weighty rumble to the release. It takes a while to adjust to the scathing aural cacophony, but once you have there's so much depth to it and it's a damn-near perfect release. It's layered very well in the manner of Darkspace, with psychedelic solos coming in and out almost at random, while managing to weave some great almost hypnotic melodies, a half buried trance that's the antithesis of the huge wall of fuzz and loud screams. There's constant tempo changes and different ideas throughout the constantly evolving and growing piece, but never deviating from the raw wall of noise textural approach. At the twelve minute mark there's even some epic melodic riffing that wouldn't sound out of place on an Emperor album while still sounding as oppressive as Leviathan's murkiest moments. At the end of the track it fades out back into the ambient noise we heard at the start. Side B is much the same, starting with a more melodious and enjoyable piece of ambient synths, before the heavy hitting wall of noise starts up once again.There's some moments on the second part where the bass is more audible, and the melodies quiet warm and beautiful, completely unexpected, but then the demo is one of constant curveballs.

This is one of the finest DSBM releases I've heard in a long while, and for any fans of Judas Iscariot, Xasthur and Leviathan, this will blow your minds. A monstrously heavy release, that doesn't just rely on it's huge sound, it's a spring of good ideas and fantastic black metal music. The status of the project is unknown unfortunately, but there's a further EP and full length to check out, and if they're anywhere near as good as this they'll be more than worth your time.

Originally written for swirlsofnoise.com

Epic debut of emotional raw BM / darkspace ambient - 90%

NausikaDalazBlindaz, October 20th, 2014

Remastered and reissued in 2013 by Fallen Empire Records, this self-titled debut by the Colorado BM act is a mysterious and intriguing affair. Now more widely available than in 2011, when there were only 46 copies of the album available on cassette, the recording preserves its lo-fi origins in its production which lingers in a blurry no-man's zone that sounds equally amateurish yet polished in some respects. The recording combines straight-out raw black metal, dark space ambience and experimental drone in a way that hints at its sinister and perhaps misanthropic agenda.

Initially sounding quite primitive, hesitant and awkward, the music grows and develops through unstructured drone texture and blunt blackness into a sleek beast of splintery, spitting tremolo guitar riffs and a wildly roaring blizzard vocal. The depressive BM act Xasthur comes to mind in the desperate phantom voices but otherwise the music' style here is sharper and poses a strong contrast in sound to the faint vocals. At first the drumming isn't much to sing about but it's solid, steady and comes across as a deep ominous presence. In spite of the heavy bristling distortion, there's quite a lot of detail and variation in the music as it advances: the lead guitar is very squiggly, ascending hill and descending dale, and the drums start to mix rhythms and pace. The distorted voices keep on crying and wailing away and the music quickly becomes deranged and races off into a blind alley of its own panicky making. The energy and relentless insanity of this part of the recording make it a major highlight. Eventually the torment dies down into a low troubled droning cold-space ambience which leaves the listener deep in an isolated black vacuum, with nothing but feelings of dread and abandonment.

Track IV might be the oddest on the whole recording: its introduction seems to conjure up images of an abandoned fairground in which fairy ghosts float by and implore listeners to join before this is all washed away by corrosive rain showers of guitar, speedy percussion and more furry singing. The riffing is very melodic and surprisingly emotional, embracing hope, foreboding and desperation. This part of the recording is smartly presented, very sharp and highly aggressive. About a third of the way through the second half of the recording, the music becomes very bleak and doomy, the vocals howling in vain for relief, the vibrato guitars bleeding raw pained tones and the drums leading a funereal procession.

There's a final defiant blast of raw BM glory as unseen forces collect their power for one final chance to spew their bitterness and rage at an indifferent universe. Here the music aspires to a grand and rebellious majesty, as if challenging the very universe itself for dominion over all life within it.

The whole work is remarkable for its ability to express a range of emotions with limited instrumentation: raw distorted guitars, drums, bass and a sparing use of field recordings to suggest cold alien worlds of abandonment, disuse and ruin. In this environment the scuzzy voices find their calling: lost behind a solid wall of often fiery and blistering BM, melancholy-to-dismal near-doom passages, demented lead guitar and blast-beat drum psychedelia, soundscapes of decay, and deep black space, in their desperation the voices scream the pain and anguish of souls in eternal black torment. You come away with your nerves frayed and on edge at the dreadful fate these entities must have suffered, knowing that there you go but for the grace of God ... or Satan ...

Xothist Showing Promise - 87%

benmoshen, September 14th, 2012

By being a debut release from a new artist, this album fares well. From the mystical soundscapes to the epic guitar riffs, this album has all that an astral black metal fan wants. The quality of this album is not good; I often hear too mush distortion and not enough instrumentation or vocals. The drums take control of the sound several times. But this is black metal…Who cares about sound quality? Even if what I hear is white noise all the time, the artist put it there for a reason. This demo only sounds like noise if I have it as quiet background music, or start listening half way into the song, however when I turn the volume to eleven, I enter into a different reality spawned by the guitar melodies and vocals.

Now onto the instrumentation, the intro track is only Dan on his guitar. The guitar play is not technical or fast, but creates a spooky, “out-of-this-world” atmosphere. He seems to know how to create emotional and surreal realities through his guitar work. This music is not something to listen to if the purpose is to get revved up for a basketball game, this music is to inspire artists to draw magical pictures, authors to write compelling novels, and musicians to step up their game.

Throughout the rest of the demo, I continue to hear the simple yet incredible guitar work spawned from Dan. The drums, whenever played, often dominate the tracks, and seem to remind me of punk rock. Hopefully later on in his career, Dan will be able to tune down the drums as what Darkspace has done.

As last thoughts go, this demo shows promise of a great black metal project. The drums are what keep my rating from perfect. The soundscapes are great in this demo, as is the guitar work. I will be looking forward to any new releases Xothist may record.