Xasthur - Subliminal Genocide
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Free Music Notes for Subliminal Genocide
Free Music Review: A Voice Like Nuclear Winter
Hit: 2 Stars
Like so many others, I researched Xasthur after being blown away by Malefic's guest vocal on Sunn O)))'s Black One (which Ive also reviewed). A fair amount of time was spent reading and talking with people to start with the Xasthur album that represented his apex.
I've listened to this record regularly now for about six weeks. There isn't really anyone in music with a vocal as singular as Malefic. Its the aural equivelant of a nuclear winter. However, sadly his voice is the only reason to listen to this and there is surprisingly little of it on this album. Its like eating a salad as a template for the dressing.
Somewhere along the way, Malefic was convinced of a songwriting and arranging ability that simply isn't there. Malefic's influence would be expanded drastically by better songs and in a perfect world he would be a permanent member of a band like Sunn O))).
The exception is "Prison Of Mirrors" which moves like a wave of insanity and covers you with its dark ambient inevitability. It really is a marvel and serves to illustrate the larger point as the rest of the material pales in comparison.
I'd like to think I started at the wrong place. All you dark minions of Xasthur familiarity, I am open to trying again but I'm pretty confident this is a performance artist of considerable skill who needs to realize he requires others to write for him.
Free Music Review: You havent heard suicide without having heard this album.
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is purely amazing. It's filled with some of the most atmospherically depressing black metal I've probably ever heard. The riffs are raw, the vocals are tortured and the sound full of immense pain and suffering. Plus, every song is basically as good as the next. I highly recommend this album to anyone who is a fan of a more raw sounding black metal. It's absolutely great. Free Music Review: Superb
Hit: 5 Stars
The cliche, "you get it or you don't" applies both to this album and Xasthur's music in general. Music for the status quo? I find that hard to swallow.
There are fractal layers of depth to Subliminal Genocide. One layer is a guitar fuzz of incomprehensible droning and repetitive drum machine rhythms. But Malefic tends to record two to four tracks on top of each other, leading to melodies of otherworldly beauty. If you're repulsed or bored by this album, you can shrug it off like most of the black metal Quality Control Legion does. Or you can listen more closely..
As a musician, there is only so much angst and sorrow one can spew forth. How much depressive music can one invoke? Xasthur is unrelenting with expressing the darkest emotions. The novelty in his music is that it seems so un-selfconscious, lacking in pretense. Rather than conjuring up some grandiose image or forcing out emotion, this emanates straight from his soul. The sense of isolation is suffocating. What has become of the modern Western individual? Fragmented, drug-addled, separate from the flux of Nature. A crippled shadow of once great strength and joy. Desparately searching for any bit of sanity or happiness from the array of distractions presented by our great "civilization." Malefic screams not with a single voice; anguish-filled tears of the millions rush forth.
Indeed there is a limit, but at times Xasthur in some way overcomes himself. He briefly loses touch with the physical domain and lifts into an ethereal realm of pure ideas. By reaching into the sheer essence of sorrow, by delving into its utmost extreme, he lifts beyond his painfilled and limited humanity. This music is that bliss.
Free Music Review: Wow! There IS still a metal underground!
Hit: 5 Stars
I just happened to find this CD and decided to give it a try, as the reviews here on Amazon seemed to speak very highly of it. I was amazed at how Malefic (I'm guessing that's the name of the mastermind behind this CD) could create such a totally unique sound. There are elements here of many different ambient bands, but with a much darker outlook than I've seen elsewhere. Sort of imagine an angry and extremely depressed nihilist was mixing sounds in his basement and came out with something that sounds like a cross of Burzum and My Bloody Valentine. That's the basic sound here, and yes, I do think it deserves to be mentioned with both of those bands.
I could speak of the dismal vision of the album and its sound, but another reviewer already summed up what I could say perfectly: contra mundum, indeed. The bottom line is, bands like this deserve far more attention than they get. If you have any appreciation for unique musical styles, or you're one of the few open-minded black metal fans, then you should really pick up this album. It confirms what I've been hearing for a long time, that there's a definite underlying link between black metal and ambient pop/rock experiments like MBV.
Free Music Review: good. for the status quo.
Hit: 3 Stars
Decent album... if you like Scotty's brand of black metal "Muzak." To be played at high volume in every elevator and shopping mall in hell. Nocturnal Poisoning is the best work of Xasthur, also one that has not been duplicated in sound or style. ALl his other albums are like this one, in essence.
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