bartosso Altering Forever

True artists are restless, insatiable, always looking for modes of expression that would satisfy nobody else but themselves. Not us, mind you. You're just a guest, a spectator of this eternal struggle between artist and his creation. Ahhh, and Mories. Those who came across this man know exactly how unwelcoming he can be. Plague Beasts, third full-length record under the aegis of Cloak of Altering, is another experimental record that catches Mories fusing his diverse styles into one whole. And as usual, it's very well done.

Not as well as it used to be, though. Two previous records presented Cloak of Altering as a well blended combination of black metal, industrial electronica, classical and noise. Plague Beasts consists of pretty much the same ingredients, with a stronger emphasis put on electronic and noise aspects of the music. If you're familiar with the band and its black metal roots are known to you, you can easily trace them. It may not be so obvious to newcomers, though. For the most part Mories' songwriting is as strong as ever. Unrelenting, polyphonic assault of devilish tremolos, ominous symphonic synthesizers and seemingly chaotic syncopation suck you into a whirlwind of beautiful insanity. You can actually see the genuine passion put into this music as it bleeds out of your ears. Still, as much as I hate track-by-track approach, I have to say "Ash666urA" and "Into Celestial Hell", due to their more straightforwardly noisy character, feel a little uninspired in comparison with the rest of the album.

Plague Beasts is another step in CoA's exploration of the unique blend of avant-garde black metal and electronica known from previous releases. While it's easier to mark out individual sound elements this time round, it still is a strangely consistent, yet in parts flawed, record. Recommendable to metal and electronica fans with a weakness for a full-on approach, Cloak Altering latest album is another quality release from the enfant terrible of experimental underground.

UMUR "Plague Beasts" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Dutch avant garde/experimental extreme metal act Cloak of Altering. The album was released through Crucial Blast Records in April 2014. Cloak of Altering is a one-man project featuring Mories of Gnaw Their Tongues, De Magia Veterum, Aderlating..etc. Mories is one of the more prolific artists in the more experimental/avant garde part of the extreme metal scene. He normally works alone and is usually responsible for playing all instruments, singing, and producing, which is also the case on "Plague Beasts".

Stylistically the music on "Plague Beasts" is a noisy, experimental, and at times quite avant garde take on extreme metal. Somewhere in the background and usually buried beneath layers of noise effects, tortured screaming vocals, and other absurdities, there is a black metal foundation. On this album Mories completely distorts that foundation by clipping the tracks and sampling them. Speeding them up, slowing them down, adding electronic effects, and just twisting them into something they weren´t from the get go. An approach not terribly different from the approach to making music that Whourkr are known for. Wold is another artist that comes to mind.

As always Mories succeeds in creating a repugnant, eerie, dark, and claustrophobic atmosphere, that reeks of putrefaction and creates images of dreadful torture chambers or people being buried alive. No light will ever shine. His affection for early Swans and especially Abruptum is still apparent, like it is in most of his work/projects, but he always manages to twist his influences into something that´s distinctly his own.

"Plague Beasts" is anything but an easy listen. It´s often very unpleasant on the ears, it´s noisy, distorted, and the way the sound production is constructed the recognisable metal elements are often buried and obscured in the mix. On purpose of course and as a consequence they are that more effectful when allowed to be dominant in the mix. Mories is as brilliant a producer as he is musican, and therefore can make such a layered and noisy sound production work. So while "Plague Beasts" can be a bit of a trial to get through (and it´s only 37:13 minutes long) because of the incredibly busy and noisy soundscape and the furious intensity level, it´s a brilliant release if you adjust your expectations to what you´ll be exposed to when listening to the album. Expect to leave the listening session with your ears ringing, your blood frozen in your veins, and a tortured confused look in your eyes and you´re halfway there. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.