siLLy puPPy Here's a bizarre group that couldn't decide if it wanted to be black metal, doom metal, surf rock, Krautrock or psychedelic noise rock, so they decided to be all of them. Often at the same time! The battle between the aggressive and the psychedelic is in full play on this one. The very first track is probably one of the most aggressive pieces of drone music i've ever heard utilizing the blastbeats and tremolo guitar fury of black metal while sustaining a single chord for several minutes in an almost meditative manner which literally defies expectations. After a while strange new sounds emerge from the din and slowly unfold variations and patterns.

The secret to the success of OCCULT ROCK, the 3rd album by the unique French band ALUK TODOLO is that it likes to combine forms of metal with forms of space rock creating a unique space metal that takes its time to unfold at a nonchalant lolligagging pace. It often seems like the band is racing full speed ahead to get nowhere only to stay put which is a stark contrast indeed. Luckily I was unaware of the fact that this is a double album which more often than not makes me stop and think if I want to subject myself to so much music, but as I put in disc one I was pleasantly surprised as track by track the album unfolds its sounds and branches out into different musical arenas. The tracks pleasantly connect and each one takes you somewhere new. The only constant here is change with a heavy distorted bass and drums being the rhythm while the guitar takes on a post-metal duty of atmospheric generator. I was very surprised by this one. I can sit through both discs simultaneously and only get kind of tired of it by the very last doom metal inspired OCCULT ROCK track.

Time Signature Occult rock...

Genre: avant-garde metal



The album opens in perhaps the most minimalistic fashion ever with the the band grinding away at one chord with a simple blastbeat as company. Gradually a bit of variation is thown into the picture, and the track morphs towards something more akin to black metal with dissonant tremolo-picked figures, but this is combine with some rather spacy effects. If your brain is not fried after ten minutes of this stuff, then you are qualified to enjoy the rest of the album.

The second track is heavier and combines noise rock with doom metal, eventually taking on a more psychedelic character, before a repetitive blastbeat section kicks in which itself morphs into noise rock. The third track documents experimentation with drone rock, which also spills over into the fouth and fifth tracks which do, however, feature experimentation with various drumbeats and noise effects. The sixth track features a number of minimalistic passages and somehow reminds me of The Pixies at times. The seventh track is another minimalistic affair in which the rhythm section offers a basic drive with noisy but atmospheric guitars on top. The eighth track is in the heavy department, featuring elements of doom and drone metal.

Overall, this is an interesting album which combines noise and atmosphere. But it is not an album you would listen to for mere pleasure. It is challenging in a number of ways and features elements that border on being unpleasant. A must for fans of avant-garde metal, "Occult Rock" is not for everybody thugh.