Impending Funeral of Man

After noticing that these guys were a.) from Canada and b.) signed amongst Dark Descent's roster, I pretty much felt compelled to check them out. Turns out, I did right before this album's release, and when I finally heard it, I was pretty pleasantly surprised by being so impressed at first listen by a band so completely new to me. As far as I know, this has garnered generally positive reviews, and I count among them. This is pretty much what I want to hear in metal, more or less. Of course, I like a wide variety of shades and colors and techniques and styles within my extreme metal, but the point is, is that for one of those supremely visceral listening experiences that seems to perfectly convey all the primal aggression of metal in it's pure, unbridled form, Begrime Exemious are carrying 'the torch' of this particular niche with uncanny style.

And when I say, "Metal in its pure, unbridled form", just what do I mean? Well, I suppose it alludes to my love for bands that brandish admirable genre ambiguity; sounding like the best elements of death, black and thrash metal into one very even but very pure maelstrom of abrasive creativity. I suppose this is necessary to mention, because admittedly, I have a bitch of a time trying to determine just which of extreme metal's three sub-genres this monstrous album falls into. But as I explained earlier, it doesn't matter, because the point is that this is a band who conveys the primal and steadfast passion of metal music purely, which is more like a transcendental essence that any particular theory or technique - something that few bands can really boast in addition to their songwriting. Without bloating the philosophy too much, the simple point is that this album is one of a scant few from a select few artists who seem to truly understand what the genre is all about... or at least what I find essential in it, on a base level.

The music here is very riff-driven (yeah, I know, ninety percent of metal is) but this is one of those instances in which the riffing has a particularly sharp bite to it. It's dominant in the mix, gravely blessed with one of the best guitar tones on any recent metal album - one that reeks with grime (heh) and filth, but retains a perfect balance of heavy clarity and gain. It's one of the more 'common'-sounding tones as heard on several 'black thrash' albums, but at the same time, it doesn't quite resemble any tone I've heard before. Musically, I'd imagine a lot of people comparing this to Angelcorpse, but this doesn't really have quite their subtly epic style, despite the similar militant vibe of the tremolo riffing (albeit with less angular riffing than Gene's). Other parts may remind a listener of Gospel of the Horns or perhaps Necrovore, but due to the rather classical-tinged lead guitar work, this music escapes the traps of generic results. BG have a voice of their own, despite a natural familiarity of the music they're rooted in. Crippling tremolo riffing abounds, with nasty, catchy paroxysms of eighth and twelfth notes scuttling in commanding patterns, accentuated by the wily lead guitar work, steeped in frenzied classical-inspired melodies that actually expand upon the heaviness with delightful variety and intense rigidness. The drumming matches with an intense performance, that trades off between speedy intricacy and solid blasting, depending on the time or verse. Some have complained about them being too low in the mix, but they add just enough punch to sound formidable, though with a solid sense of subtlety that is even within the mix and lets the guitars shine. It's a sound that's ultimately invigorating in its primitivity, admirable in its raw sophistication, and inspiring in its spirit. Minor flaws may present themselves in some of the sameyness of the riffs at times, but there's really nothing else to complain about.

To wrap it up; I currently have a real love for the current Canadian metal scene, as it's spawning so many unique extreme metal artists who are adding much variety, depth and artistic propensity to the death metal aesthetic, whilst never jettisoning all the abrasive energy that defines it as the secluded, special art form that it is. Adversarial, Mitochondrion, Weapon, Martial Barrage, and now Begrime Exemious, amongst plenty of others. A special scene that creates exactly what I want in my extreme metal at this day in age. [i]Impending Funeral of Man[/i] is a most worthy addition to such a supreme slew of releases.