I Have Seen the Light, and It Was Repulsive

It's rare nowadays that when listening to new metal, I am impressed by its heaviness, which is why when I first spun this release I knew it was something special. This album is intense. I came to appreciate its other aspects soon after, but I was so floored by its suffocating ferocity initially that I wouldn't have even thought to try. Sermon of Flames uses a perfect blend of black, death, and sludge, carefully balancing them to maximize its impact. Every fit of fast, vicious riffing is countered with slow and hammering growls. Every burst of violent aggression is countered with claustrophobic atmosphere. Listening to the whole album is like being set on fire one minute and drowning the next. Both providing and equal and opposite form of heaviness that gives you no time to catch your breath.

Another facet of this album that continues to impress me is its production. Anyone who is familiar with extreme metal knows that production quality is always a point of contention with fans, and sometimes rightly so. Overproducing an album can leave it stale and impersonal, while underproducing it can make the music indiscernible or muddled. Sermon of Flames in this instance opts for a more crisp and clear sound, and wow does it do it right. Part of this too is about the balance of sounds, the growls deep and chest-rattling and the shrieks piercing. Just the right amount of reverb to maintain the ever popular "cavernous" sound but never making the music feel distant. The riffs come out in a way that is both harsh and vibrant, and the thunderous drum tone is perfection. All of these too, come together in harmony, each track balanced in intensity to make sure you are fully aware of every detail amongst the chaos. Additionally. Sermon of Flames employs harsh noise influences in many parts of the album, the dissonance enhancing the atmosphere, creating tension and confusion without ever succumbing to the over-the-top cheesiness or artificiality that is so often the downfall of industrial and noise influence.

Above all else though, I Have Seen the Light, and It Was Repulsive is a giant. A titan. A gargantuan monstrosity. Every moment feels massive and detached in a way that only something beyond the scope of your understanding can be. Its esoteric, abstract, and apocalyptic. Its uncanny ability to evoke such strange forms of terror in the listener is what truly sets it apart. It's not something that I could ever replicate, irrelevant of the time I'm given. It transcends talent and objectivity, and to me, there is no truer form of art than that.