PhantasmaChronica

Christof Niederwieser, the Chryst… sorry, Christ figure here and the only actual member, started his musical career with a bunch of like-minded individuals who produced some really captivating progressive death/black metal horizons under the Korova/Korovakill monikers. The debut “A Kiss in the Charnel Fields” is a milestone in said genres, but by the time of the third instalment’s (“Waterhells”, 2001) release the style had moved towards a more avant-garde form of black/post-black along the lines of Borknagar and Solefald.

A fairly short, but eventful spell that is given another go by Niederwieser with the album reviewed here. The previous showings were all relative eye-openers, each in their own way, but the man has really psyched out on this one although the final impression is clearly on the positive side again. To describe this album stylistically won’t be very easy as Niederwieser has thrown quite a few influences into the furnace, turning it into an appetizing extreme, “Unexpect meets Arcturus meets The Kovenant”, metal amalgam which at least on the opening “The Awakening” bears semblances of normality with the intense death/thrashing accumulations. Niederwieser provides both cleaner operatic and vicious hissing black/deathy vocals throughout, with King Diamond-like semi-recitals dispersed throughout. In other words, he keeps himself quite busy on all fronts with the musical cacophony later containing orchestral doomy etudes (“Leaving the Ashes”, “The Surge Lands”), psychotic frenetic headbangers (“Storming Outside”), and diverse hyper-active variations on the Cradle of Filth/Dimmu Borgir pomposity (“Universe Inverse”).

To these ears the minimalistic, introspective cyber-melodicism of cuts like “A New Age” and “Metatropolis” seem to work the best siding with later-period The Kovenant, with “Grow into Labyrinths” another highlight, a surreal hallucinogenic shredder which overwrites pensive doomy balladisms like “Back in the Room” and the poignant soporific “Templum Tempus”, all those served at the end forming a contrasting, but appetizing knot.

Yes, quite a bit thrown at the listener who will be following the stylistic switches bemused and probably a bit confused, and how sold he/she would be to the guy’s cause in the long run (whole 14 compositions) remains a speculation. Fans of the mentioned acts, as well as those who always search for the offbeat and eclectic in music, will by all means be entertained; the more orthodox side of the fanbase would most likely stay with the album till the end, but may not be compelled to give it a second listen in the next few days. It’s an admirable feat that Niederwieser alone can provide such a wide cocktail of influences without messing it up, and without necessarily sounding like his previous exploits. Still, this opus does sound like a logical continuation of the Korova/Korovakill saga without transcending the borders of the accessible towards less decipherable soundscapes.

I’m not sure why the content of the album is given as one big homogenous composition here… my version has 14 separate pieces; and it should be that way as each of them pertains to a different motif and way of execution. Anyway, I’m certain that Niederwieser knows what he’s doing; even when he wants to present his creations as one big uninterrupted phantasmagoria.