Five years after its solid sophomore Orogeny, Swiss tech-death metallers Anachronism are on the offensive with their third studio album Meanders. Developing on previous strengths and incorporating various elements new to its sound, the band has combined a commendable set of tracks into its strongest release to date. While the band opted for an all-guns-blazing approach on Orogeny, Meanders is marginally more accessible. That said, listeners not seasoned in this style of dissonant death metal should not expect an easy ride - this is still decidedly heavy material. In comparison to the genre’s well-known ambassadors, Anachronism manages to harbour a distinct sound: less urgent than Sunless, less chaotic than Gorguts and less claustrophobic than Ulcerate, successfully serving up delicious dissonance in a slightly more user-friendly format while not compromising on brutality or technicality.

The musicianship on Meanders is nothing short of spectacular but the quality of songwriting on offer is what nudges it ahead of the band’s previous work. Compacting an impressive amount of variety into thirty minutes while also managing to create a record so concise and focused is no easy feat but it’s something Anachronism have achieved with apparent ease. While rooted in the frenetic, atonal qualities of Gorguts-inspired death metal, elements of post-metal and psychedelia are intricately woven through the fabric of the record, throwing the listener from apocalyptic worlds to areas with more restraint where listeners can take a quick breather. “Macrocosm” acts as an interstellar journey while the brooding chugs in the introduction of “Prism” provide further stylistic nuance, a brief yet welcome slow-down in tempo before the onslaught begins again. The use of melody is also key in distinguishing Anachronism from its disso-death peers. Applied in an appropriately conservative fashion, it appears almost exclusively in the guitar leads and always steers clear of approaching the territory of melo-death. “Source” impresses in this respect, being plentiful in blast-beats, angular riffs and slick grooves, penetrated by lofty, melodic guitar solos before exiting with a spacious psychedelic outro proving to be one of the strongest and most diverse tracks on the album. Although bombastic performances are given across the board, specific attribution must go to the vocal abilities of Lisa Voisard. Not only are her confident growls strong enough to make most of the genre originators jealous, tracks like “Dialogues” and the eponymous “Meanders” prove her versatility with the inclusion of higher-pitched, blood-curdling shrieks, adding a touch of spine-chilling atmosphere to the affair.

From all the laudable qualities of Meanders, its greatest success centres around how the band brings all its nuances together, seamlessly combining them with its gritty, atonal base to produce a diverse and dynamic listening experience that remains true to its death metal foundations. Acting as both a logical progression from previous works and a bold step into unexplored territory, fans can rest assured that Anachronism has retained its position above the standards of the modern death metal cesspit, easily holding its own against the genre’s renown flag-bearers.

Attribution:

https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/86692/Anachronism-Meanders/

Ever present is a plethora of artists attempting to imprint their mark on the diverse world of extreme metal, ensuring that the wide umbrella genre is never short of fresh meat. Naturally, this also means that saturation is unavoidable, resulting in many efforts inevitably slipping under the radar and fading into obscurity. Athenian blackened death-sludge outfit Wothrosch is one such artist launching its first assault on the world with its debut album Odium, released to the unwashed masses two weeks into 2023 showcasing great musicianship, fantastic production and a record which is enjoyable but sadly, not too memorable.

Odium is impressive in many ways. The mix of mid-pace sludge riffs grinding away underneath creepy tremolo-picked leads provides an ominous backdrop and creates a truly ghastly and asphyxiating atmosphere assisted by vocals that switch between brutish sludge roars, guttural death growls and screams that sound like a wild beast being subjected to the most barbaric torture methods imaginable. The musicianship on offer is top notch with a special mention to the drummer who effortlessly swapping between rapid blast-beats and slow doomy passages, proves themselves highly versatile. The production is remarkably grandiose for the debut album of a little-known band and gives the album a nice sheen without being too clinical.

In contrast, Odium is plagued by a shortfall in variety and a surplus of overly lengthy cuts. By the halfway stage, the magnificent vibes projected at the start begin to wane and the album succumbs to stagnation with individual tracks becoming indistinguishable from each other. The ferocious closer “Reign” being an exception, just about managing to bring the album above mediocrity. While Wothrosch may have cooked up a variety of metal influences into a tasty sonic recipe, a distinct lack of deviation from that specific sound is enough of a stumbling block that consuming the full portion in its entirety is a challenge. If the band were to combine the tight performances and fastidious production with a more focused approach to songwriting, they could easily prevent themselves from being one of the countless highly talented outfits who do not cut the proverbial mustard.

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Attribution:

https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/86160/Wothrosch-Odium/

The broad realm of instrumental music arguably boasts some of the most emotive material ever produced. Through its abstinence from literary storytelling, an infinite world of possibilities is opened, empowering individuals to create their own story based on what emotional evocations are experienced. Whether it be the soothing melancholy of post-rock, the euphoric heights of EDM or rousing, battle-charge classical, the common denominator is the energy harboured within, boasting potential to completely grip listeners with mesmerising soundscapes. Some genres face greater challenges than others in successfully transfixing audiences and when considering heavy metal along with its seemingly infinite number of derivatives, the challenge is kicked up a notch with instrumental endeavours having to compensate for the absence of a commanding vocalist. While numerous bands have experienced success in this respect by shrouding their material in chilling atmospheric cloaks or flaunting mind-pickling levels of virtuosity, Ajeno has opted for neither approach when creating its eponymous debut album. Ajeno offers a simple package of rocking sludge riffs and fill-heavy drumming which, although competently performed, are sadly lacklustre in terms of atmosphere or emotion.

The sharp, menacing riffage of opener “Erosionan” makes a promising start but the song lacks development, quickly running out of steam as the riffs simply repeat multiple times over. This theme continues throughout the front half of the album with each track replying on a couple of stock riffs, churned out in repeated cycles. This formulaic structure causes Ajeno to suffer as the discernible verse/chorus patterns prevent it from taking you on a wondrous instrumental journey, instead sounding like a partially completed recording to which a vocalist has not yet contributed. The worst offender is “Salvajes” which rumbles along awkwardly, repeating the same basic grooves and riffs, managing to rapidly outstay its welcome despite its meagre sub-four-minute length. The second half of the album is marginally stronger with a couple of tracks showing a smidgeon of variety. The mildly progressive guitar work and technical drumming featured on “Incoherentes” and album closer “Evolución” would not sound out of place on Mastodon’s 2006 opus Blood Mountain and are easily the most enjoyable tracks that [i]Ajeno[/] has to offer. Unfortunately, it’s too little, too late and ultimately fails to save the album from stagnation.

These guys clearly know how to play their instruments and have the foundations of a solid sludge metal outfit but Ajeno cannot escape from its blaringly obvious shortfall in emotionally evocative output. Despite being rich in tight, groove-laden riffs, it feels more like the skeleton of an album than a finished product. It would undoubtedly pay dividends if the band invested in a roaring vocalist to enhance their sound in future.

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Attribution:

https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/86685/Ajeno-Ajeno/

Chat Pile is an Oklahoma based noise rock/sludge metal quartet who's debut studio album "God’s Country" became available to the masses in the summer of 2022 after having been the subject of much hype in alternative music circles. After the initial listen, one feels like a corkscrew has been inserted into each ear and violently twisted. What has one just experienced? The answer is a savage and exasperated assault on a broken western society, transported to the ear canals with unprecedented levels of rage. While lyrical content concerning the failings of society is a well-trodden path with each new endeavour having potential to project yet another rehashed and redundant message, God’s Country does anything but.

You might ask what prevented God’s Country from falling into the rehash trap. It all comes down to the earnestness with which the message is delivered – no generic “fuck the government” material can be found here. Vocalist Raygun Busch launches a wide-ranged and carefully calculated attack on several aspects of modern American society which is both unapologetically scathing and depressingly accurate with its content. Amongst the themes of homelessness, mass meat production and the disgraceful condition of the environment are pockets of truly harrowing material in relation to the ongoing mental health crisis but rather than giving off the impression of wallowing, the overall message is one of downright rage, giving the record authenticity and ultimately, lyrical relevance.

While there is nothing overly complex musically speaking, the genre-fusion on offer here more than compensates for those who crave something less simplistic. Ferocious sludge and noise rock form the base of the musical palate, supported by touches of post-hardcore and the occasional groove-laden, angular nu-metal passage. The heavier portions of the musical fabric are juxtaposed by the inclusion of gothic and 80s post-punk elements which add a sense of gloom and if that wasn’t enough, the whole experience is shrouded in a cold industrial atmosphere.

A grotesque and blood-curdling release, God’s Country brings something new to the party without straying too far from its sludge roots. Unique yet familiar, harrowing yet humbling, Chat Pile have produced something truly special.

New and obscure sludge releases are something I have begrudgingly grown to approach with a certain degree of trepidation - a fear of being greeted with a bland sixty minutes of overly atmospheric music and a distinct lack of memorable riffs. Enter Danish three-piece outfit Offernat who (with their independently released debut) thankfully reinstate the almighty sludge riff – an especially pleasant surprise on a release containing only four tracks, the shortest of which still exceeds a duration of ten minutes. Having said that, All Colours Retract still boasts its fair share of atmospheric qualities but rather than reaching saturation point, the band has approached this with an optimal degree of curation, resulting in a wild ride of metal which fuses 00s progressive sludge with elements of doom, black metal and post-rock/metal.

Opener “Inside the Fog” wastes no time in smacking you in the face with a series of lurching, pelagic riffs, similar to the oceanic brutality of early Mastodon. The track builds in intensity as it reaches the halfway point of the +10-minute duration, developing an almost insurmountable feeling before crashing down to the ocean floor and erupting again with near overwhelming levels of feedback and screeching effects. More Mastodon influence is featured on the epic “The Winds” which showcases some slow yet intricate, atonal riffs, akin to the sounds explored on the 2004 masterpiece Leviathan. Post-rock and black metal influences play a significant role in the overall sound of the remainder of the album. All tracks besides the opener contain strong elements of both genres with the aforementioned epic “The Winds” opening with rapid blast beats and thick, atmospheric guitars while the middle section possesses qualities akin to the lighter side of Glaswegian post-rock titans Mogwai. “Harvest Return” and “Caught in Existence” both switch between suffocating riffs and relaxing clean guitar and bass melodies but over the course of their combined length of 23 minutes, the album descends to a bit of an anti-climax after the commendable quality of the first two offerings.

While musically diverse, the vocal department is stubbornly similar throughout. The overall tone shares a parity with the harsh vocal delivery a la Tom Araya of thrash metal legends Slayer and to a lesser extent, Lars-Göran Petrov of Entombed fame. While it does suit the music well, I was surprised to learn that lead vocal duties are shared between all three members of Offernat as this was not readily apparent to my ears. Cohesivity is another department where the band fall somewhat. As pleasant as the post-rock passage is on “The Winds”, its placement seems somewhat disjointed with the rest of the album and doesn’t slot in as nicely as the similar passages on the other tracks.

A worthwhile listen to any fan of sludge, All Colours Retract demonstrates a return of the glorious and all too absent sludge riff while maintaining a healthy atmospheric quality from the more modern facets of the genre. Despite the disappointment in the decline in quality in the latter half, Offernat are certainly more than worth keeping an eye on.

[Originally written for Sputnikmusic]