Apoteosis fallida

This is the sophomore effort from this Argentinian combo; far from being a sophomore slump, as is so common with most bands, these fellas have morphed their music into something very different, from the song structures to the production. This new something is not necessarily superior, mind you; it is just as good, but provides a much needed evolution, if only for the sake of variety. The overall atmosphere of the record is less gelid; slower but more passionate, as opposed to the icicle-cold,fast assault on their debut album. Don't get me wrong; the aggro and assault on the senses is still there, with the songs retaining their trademark structural unpredictability, little repetitiveness or catchiness -making it a real hard listen, just the way I like it- but incorporating some enjoyable -although not overabundant- riffing this time around. Just like their debut, this album never gets chaotic;it retains enough structure to be perceived as orderly chaos! Tempos vary from song to song, but most of the album is grindingly mid-tempo, with the closing song speeding up with a sense of urgency, and not to finish it, mind you, for at 37' long, I had wished it would have been longer. But trust me, it is so intense, your ears and mind will be better off with the intended duration.

The production is so perfect it could put any first-world CD ever recorded to shame,leaps-and-bounds better than on their first CD; terrific guitar tone and vocals,dynamics to startle the listener at every turn (beware of the transition between tracks one and two, it will make you jump from the couch) and everything perfectly balanced in the mix. Yet again, there are 2 guitars -one on each audio channel- that crazily intertwine in intricate patterns, yet this time around, they are cleaner and not overly trebly. Does it sound tamer due to that ? Absolutely not ! The rawness is still there, just not in the sound, but on the music. Bass guitar rarely follows the melodic line of guitars, and takes turns at both beefing up the drums, and making a nice and creative job of counterpointing the rest of the instruments. It is also very present on some songs and almost in the background on others. Drumming is thunderous, with emphasis on the double kick drums,and a somewhat echoey and distant snare -intended IMO- and cymbals that could have been louder, but were not, for some reason.


The lyrics are again on a highly philosophical level, dealing with atheism instead of the beaten-to-dead Satanism of norsecore, yet the exquisitely laid out booklet, which features beautifully grim artwork -all drawn by an illustrator, no pictures- does not include any lyrics, but if you speak Spanish, you might be able to pick up some upon playing the CD. The vocals are spine-tingling, frighteningly shrieked, yet not as recited as before, with a hint at actual singing -if in a Finnish BM way,that is, and some sparse, yet highly interesting spoken-word parts are intercalated in some songs, to great effect. The bassist is allowed to do some vocals, and shines at it.

Very pleased with this perfect CD, but I foresee the band having trouble making another album on par with this one. It is that good.