Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being

Have you ever crossed paths with a band out of nowhere? Better yet, have you ever crossed paths with a band out of nowhere, found it was actually a supergroup, and realized they released an album just as good as they would do in their "original" (let's put it like that) bands? Well, if you're getting into Predatory Void, that will certainly be the case. But if you already know Amenra, or Oathbreaker, or Cross Bringer, or Cobra The Impaler... then this band should not be a hard case of pleasing ears.

"Seven Keys To The Discomfort of Being" is not an easy album to listen to, or at least to unpack at the first listen, presenting us an interesting blend of genres that go from hardcore to sludge, from black metal to death metal (not to forget doom metal) and even brings some mellow acoustic tips to the table. The title is in consonance with what we are supposed to expect as far as lyrical concept goes – there are “Seven Keys”, so there must be seven different realities. It is disturbing, unsettling, uncomfortable. But that's where its beauty resides: The complexity presented creates space for every emotion to be felt, and the discomfort you continuously feel allows every demon to be purged. Even though it is very difficult to categorize the album in a single (sub)genre, its ecletism is certainly something that should be - and will be - taken into account.

The saga that originates the band - and particularly this record - begins when Amenra's Lennart Bossu started writing material he deemed not fit for its emotionally chaotic turbulence, but once you listen to this album you'll probably convince yourself otherwise. This album is actually closer to any Amenra material than Lennart Bossu originally intended it to be, the only difference being that Predatory Void consists of songs that are a direct punch to the gut when compared to Amenra's more atmospherical nature. The rhythmic section of both Amenra’s and Predatory Void’s material is also slightly different, but just like everything else in the album, you don’t get the gist of it at first listen. The vocal intensity (if we may call it like that) remains the same, but Amenra’s rhythm section is a little more sludgy in some songs and isn’t as versatile as Predatory Void’s.

To clarify this last point, take songs like “Grovel” or “Endless Return to the Kingdom of Sleep” as fine examples: The first one starts with a very recognizable sludgy pattern, but as it progresses it builds in intensity towards an easily identifiable (and kind of frantic) death metal sound, as the chaos within it starts to take over. But there’s a passage in the song (“Undying light/Seeming so pure/Entering me/So insecure…) where the song seems to slow down a little bit and the clean voice of Lina R. paints an unsettling picture, as it echoes through the ears like a voice from deep inside your head. The same happens with the latter: “Endless Return to the Kingdom of Sleep” starts with the same sludge metal progression but the difference is right in the very beginning. While on “Grovel” Lina R.’s growls immediately shatter the proverbial glass ceiling, on “Endless Return to the Kingdom of Sleep” it’s the combination of pounding drum sections and clean vocals that sets the mood, though the latter presents a better sense of progression (rhythmical and lyrical) than "Grovel" itself.

“Seven Keys To The Discomfort of Being” is not only a nice case of versatility, but of minimalism as well. 95% of the album is built upon thundering drums, relentless guitar work, pounding bass and almost demonic screams, but then there’s “Seeds of Frustration”, the shortest track of the album. At three minutes and a half, you may think the song is unstoppable and unapologetic death metal-meets-hardcore-meets-sludge metal case of fury and some resentment. But it’s actually a surprising opposite: A surprisingly acoustically driven ballad of instrospection, where Lina’s voice soothes you to sleep and disturbs you with the ephemeral reality of life at the same time.

To sum it up - and to recall what I stated earlier - "Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being", while being not an easy album to grasp at first listen, is an album that will certainly resound with a lot of fans. The reason for that is the paradox between heaviness and calmness, between relentlessness and a somewhat charming soothness, even though you'll immediately find out it is never truly soothing. But more than anything, "Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being" presents itself as an ambitious and auspicious record, one that's not afraid to break boundaries and surpass what we thought were the intangible limits of the heaviest of sounds.