Defective Epitaph

Well, I'm bored out of my mind pulling 24-hour duty, so maybe I'll type up some random reviews. "Defective Epitaph" is Xasthur's sixth full-length album. If you thought the previous five were hard to take in and listen to in one sitting, as a lot of people feel about Xasthur in general, this album is more trying than the others. Well, this isn't necessarily MY feeling about it, but I can see how others would perceive it like this. It pretty much maintains the same sound as the previous records but sounds even harsher than the previous records and is even more drowning. The sorrow that immits from this record is real. If you're not already a Xasthur fan or a fan of depressive black metal in general, you may not be able to comprehend this, or its musical merit. Hell, even for me, it took a little bit of time to fully grasp and appreciate the album for what it is.

The length of this album really shows how much there is to listen to here. It's an hour and fifteen minutes in length with 12 songs. Previously, "Subliminal Genocide" was the band's longest full-length at a little over 70 minutes, not counting the 72-minute "A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors" demo. This makes "Defective Epitaph" his longest album, as the two that would follow are significantly shorter. Black metal is not usually known to have such long albums in terms of total length, especially this harsher, more dissonant style of black metal. It's not as if Xasthur makes music that is pleasing to the casual ear as it is, so this could be quite the challenge for some. Personally, because I enjoy this style, it doesn't bother me.

The album opens right away with "Soulless Elegy", which is a short song at under three minutes but doesn't just sound like an album's intro. It's more than just an intro track and actually shows a lot of what's to come on the remainder of this affair. Unlike his previous albums, Malefic (Scott Connor) generally plays on an actual acoustic drum kit with the drum machine still appearing here and there. It's a nice change but honestly, at least for me, really doesn't affect the music too much. Drum machines never really bugged me unless they're mixed poorly or stand out too much. The drums are mixed fine here with the rest of the album's raw sound. Guitars have that buzzsaw sound that was always a standard with this band's music as well. They sound a bit muddier here than before though. As you could expect, simplicity is a huge ingredient in Scott's sound. He doesn't do anything flashy, technical, progressive, or too musically demanding here and for what he was going for, of course, simplicity and atmosphere are enough.

Speaking of atmosphere, it's quite good here. It's not his best work, musically or atmospherically, but it's still solid and what could be expected from his musical history. The sound is sorrowful and depressive. Instead of really going with a specific musical flow, although there is one, the guitars, keyboards, and vocals work to create a massive wall of sound that has always been prominent on Xasthur albums. This doesn't end here. The vocals remain very tortured and hateful. Malefic sounds like a dying soul and he should, as this fits the sound of the music well. There isn't much variation between songs, though some contain more interludes and the lengths of the songs do vary a bit. The shortest is "Soulless Elegy" which is under the 3-minute mark, and the longest is the soul-shattering "Memorial to the Waste of Life". It would have been nice to hear some more clean segments in these songs, such as some acoustic guitar parts or non-distorted parts, but distortion and Xasthur became synonymous with each other, so what can you really expect in that department?

Overall, this album is a solid record though it doesn't stand out in comparison to some of his other releases. It definitely isn't his worst but doesn't really compare to "Nocturnal Poisoning" or "Subliminal Genocide." It's easier on the ears than "All Reflections Drained", though still a challenge. I'm sure other fans of Xasthur have heard this record but if not, give it a spin. Best listened to when drunk, exhausted, or as background music.