Organasm

The release of subsequent albums by Alchemist took place with a surprisingly high frequency, in quite short time intervals every 2-3 years. This arouses considerable appreciation, because on "Jar Of Kingdom", "Lunasphere" and "Spiritech" the general progress, uniqueness and authorial atmosphere became increasingly difficult to contain in rational scales of delight, and at the same time the content of these albums escaped larger comparisons. However, innovation was often associated with poor understanding, and this was also the case with the aforementioned albums, because even the well-off labels as Lethal Records and Thrust did not promote Alchemist properly - and to this day there are no reissues of the first three albums at reasonable prices. In any case, the Australians, unbroken by unkind fate, soon after the release of the third album, began working on their fourth full-length, which was released in 2000, and by a larger label - Displeased Records. When "Organasm" was released, although it could not boast the brilliance of previous albums and - unfortunately - was once again slightly neglected in terms of promotion, the longplay as a whole still maintained a very high standard and continued the earlier, less extreme, but still very subversive style of progressive music.

A lot of the atmospheres overlap with "Spiritech" here, although it's absolutely impossible to talk about running out of steam or lack of new ideas. What it finds in common with the previous release concerns this characteristic, slightly sluggish, although still mysterious and cosmic atmosphere, numerous oriental-sounding inserts and crazy guitar effects, quite twisted and technical drums, solidly metal riffs without show-offs, vocals by Adam Agius (more about them in a moment) or generally developed structures of songs. Fortunately, despite the familiar concept, "Organasm" does not mindlessly follow up the solutions of its predecessor. The novelty on it's, for example, boldly scattered clean vocals (sublime and adding catchiness - perfectly complementing the chanting-like and occasional frightening squeals), more frequent keyboard parts and electronic inserts, and a more stoner feeling of guitars at the expense of sludge.

The catchiness of "Surreality" and "New Beginning" or the stoner heaviness interwoven with cosmic elements in "Single Sided" have therefore enormous potential for hits, although they do not duplicate the same energy, structures or melodies from earlier recordings. In them, Alchemist shows a slightly more accessible face, and at the same time, that even in more organized sounds the quartet sensibly charmed with their avant-garde departures. The best impressions on "Organasm" are of course made by the twisted, psychedelic and with sludge/stoner heaviness songs. Here in particular, "Tide In, Mind Out", "Austral Spectrum", "Eclectic", "Escape From The Black Hole" and - as the title suggests - the 3-part "Evolution Trilogy" excel, which shoot into another galaxy and absorb with a strongly mysterious atmosphere, to finally make it clear that it will not be easy to turn back from it. Thrills guaranteed.

It's with some difficulty (and maybe even a bit against myself) that I have to admit it, but as I have already mentioned, for the first time in Alchemist's history, unfortunately, it's not as brilliant an album as the previous ones and it's burdened by the greatness of its predecessors. The disadvantages of "Organasm", of course, are minor, because Alchemists still present a level unattainable for most, and there is still a lot of uniqueness in these songs. The crux of the matter, however, is that the "Organasm" contains significantly less madness, it does not contribute as much to Alchemist's style and there are not as many mind-blowing motifs as on "Spiritech". After such masters of progressive/avant-garde metal, one simply demands more, hence my slight whining. To finish the whining, the weird solution was to divide "Evolution Trilogy" into three separate tracks (if they had previously closed an eleven-minute song in one track, why couldn't they do it here, considering that all the parts last about 15 minutes together) and a plastic snare sound. While the production itself is very good and the greater clarity of the guitars was only good, the snare drum takes a moment to get used to. A moment, and then you can enjoy the excellent and inventive music.

So if anyone had any doubts and it wasn't clear enough from my review, then yes, "Organasm" is a great and still original piece of progressive metal. The fourth album by Alchemists is not as good as its three brilliant predecessors, although its decline doesn't do the authors any harm - there's still a whole bunch of well-thought-out, groundbreaking and engaging music here. Whoever was completely satisfied with "Spiritech" will immediately feel familiar, great vibes on "Organasm".

Originally on A bit of subjectivism...in metal

First few listens to the record reminded you of a post metal feel, just this strange flow devoid of any ambiance. Guitars are down tuned and vocals span the full spectrum of screams to growls. But this lack of any coherent ambiance was well compensated by the more aesthetically integrated aboriginal influences, which eventually begged for repeated listens.

A novel aspect to Alchemist artistry is their graceful blending of tribal drum beats, eastern musical instruments and psychedelic guitars. Compositions integrate progressive musical passages but songs are not that lengthy either. The record hardly emphasizes the vocals even though they do add to the overall experience. Overall structural qualities resemble progressive metal with some industrial sonic influences. If you fancy Riverside or ISIS sound, then you might also find value in Alchemist.

"Austral Spectrum" is a great opener, encompasses all the qualitative attributes of Organasm -- slow lazy guitar riffs, screaming vocals drowned by the guitar sound, tribal beats, psychedelic guitar interleaved with flute instrument and musical passages. Basically the Organasm experience in a song is "Austral Spectrum". Lyrics emphasize evolution and surrealism, sits well with the overall dreamy sonic imprint.

The song names do give away their inspirations. "Evolution Trilogy" is like one single song with smooth transitions across each of its parts. The spectacular aspect of part 3 is the electronica sound around the halfway mark leading to the trademark heavy guitar which abruptly switches to a mellow tone towards the end. On "Single Sided", Adam Agius does get ample opportunity to exhibit his vocal skills. Cannot help noticing the earmark quality of the ear splitting scream towards the end. "Tide In, Mind Out" also possess brilliant screams with bloody good backing vocals. For a change the instruments are not diverting the attention, but this was merely a transient state before the elegance of Alchemist's instrument musicianship comes back with vengeance on "Eclectic".

The record has a very striking feature, all the diverse musical influences are structured into a perfect symphony. When you combine multiple genres it's very easy to get carried away. A typical illustration of such an incoherence would be Orphaned Land's Mabool, where they bludgeon a listener with death metal growls right after a bluesy folk or jazz passage. In that sense, Organasm is a well-made record which keeps the listener entertained with its quirky and smooth transitions. Thanks to the well-balanced production quality, its intricacies tend to grow on you with multiple listens. It actually took half a dozen runs for me to start appreciating the idiosyncrasies of Alchemist terrain embedded with ample melody, good musicianship, and capable unexploited vocals.

It's a shameful time for Australia in the international music scene. Our main exports are Jet and Kylie Minogue, we have some of the most horrible boy bands ever, generally, we suck really bad (Don’t get me started on the emo scene over here). So it's really, really good to hear an Australian Band not just writing great music, but also writing music that has a very outback-y, pioneer like spirit.

This album keeps you permanently guessing. The first song, Austral Spectrum, opens up with some really well done keyboards and didgeridoos, dammit, it’s atmospheric. Then all of a sudden, crushing heavy guitars kick in, but it all fits so perfectly. Or there’s Tide in Mind Out, which starts off full of eerie synths, before some ethereal, uplifting guitars take over. It’s an amazing song, which asks the question “Why isn’t this band selling as much records as Tool?” The song continues to build up, setting a mood that Isis would be proud of, before getting really heavy. Amazing. The trilogy is great too, with some inspired tribal drumming beginning this 3 part epic, before guitars come in. Regardless of what happens though, you can be assured that there will be a great mood created. Few bands can create a mood as well as these guys. There’s a bit of a Middle-Eastern thing going on, mixed with the emptiness, the desolation and the beauty of the Australian outback.

The guitars are always of extremely high quality, whether playing FX treated clean bits of playing powerful, mid-paced metal riffs. The vocals may take a bit of getting used to, but you’ll soon love them. The singer is a very talented lyricist too, always a plus. The keyboards are maybe the best I’ve heard any metal band do. Sometimes they are very subtle, sometimes they are up there with the guitars, but there is no cheesiness at all, and they never, ever sound out of place. Everything in this album is placed perfectly in this mix. All of this great music has been suitably well produced, with everything mixed right, though I would prefer a more raw drum kit.

But who am I to complain? This is an album of Australia-sized proportions, a mind altering, intoxicating epic full of interesting soundscapes and strange, left field, yet totally accessible metal music. Basically, if you like Metal of any sort, you should run out and buy this album, right now.

Alchemist's consistency to bring out absolutely amazing records never ceases to amaze me. While this is perhaps not quite as good as Spiritech, it is so close behind that it makes little or no difference.
The first thing you might notice (if you have listened to previous Alchemist CDs) is the production. It has come quite a long way since Spiritech - much clearer and with better sounding electronics.
Well, what's to expect? What's not to expect from an Alchemist CD? Tribal/middle-eastern elements showing their heads here and there, and even an appearance of the digeridoo in "Austral Spectrum". Original riffs, psychadelic keyboards and even some very catchy clean vocal choruses appear on "Tide In, Mind Out" and "Escape From the Black Hole". "Tide In, Mind Out" is my personal favourite track. Probably the most effective and satisfying build-up I have ever heard starts this song off, and the guitar riffs, vocals (shouts and clean, deep singing) can somehow remain calming despite their heavy nature.
This is an album that must simply be sat down and listened to all the way through. Once again Alchemist will carry you away to another place.
An involving and original title from one of the best metal bands you're ever likely to hear.

I first read about Alchemist while searching metal review websites. They were being praised, this undiscovered gem from down-under. Their music was being described as addictive and hypnotic, but so is LSD. So being the sorry sap I am, I purchased their two most recent albums on the strength of those reviews along. Thankfully, Alchemist delivered tenfold.

Their fourth release, Organasm, is great piece of metal. But, it is not confined to one set way. Numerous influences radiate from the tracks. This makes a sound that is utterly intoxicating. Rhythmic tribal beats, masterfully blended keyboards, and a superb vocal performance. Although I’m unsure of what their previous albums may sound like, at this point on in their career, is easy to surmise that Alchemist knows exactly what they want to be musically.

As the previous review stated it is hard to single out a specific song to recommend. From beginning to end, one is lured into another world of sound. Austral Spectrum, the first track, moves along at a steady pace until the bottom drops with an ungodly shrill shriek-commanding the listener to, “widen the spectrum”. The next three songs are a seamless trilogy, telling the rise and fall of life on Earth. Single Sided is a pounding, shrieking, statement about individualism. Tide In, Mind Out is good in ways I can’t describe. There are no filler tracks. I don’t think Alchemist can make something disposable.

This being my first time reviewing an album I’m not sure how to sum up my ideas. All I can say is the band Alchemist and their release Organasm, are both fine examples of creative prowess. Hopefully, they will be discovered by a vaster audience seeing how they deserve it.

Brilliant work.