For this obscure group of Spaniards to have created a work of such grotesque morbidity, they couldn’t have been anything other than totally psychotic grave-fuckers, but as with most wise bands who avoid choosing their name out of bad taste despite the taboo lexicon of Death Metal, the designation of ‘Necrophiliac‘ befits this album of the week in particular on a level deeper than the mere profanation of corpses. ‘Chaopula…’ emerged from beneath the shadows of the Andalusian mountains at a time when Death Metal had reached it’s peak as an artform and is one of the best demonstrations of the theory behind the creativity and musical technique by constructing an independent philosophy from the Death Metal language. Through their emphasis of mutating, symbolic phrasal development over conscious stylistic reminders and trappings, Necrophiliac manage to impart the secrets of death in a context of intimate symbiosis with nature and the cosmos – a transcendental love of death, as though to engage in coitus with a carcass would unlock the kind of divine consciousness that Baron Julius Evola described in his ‘Metaphysics of Sex‘.
The European cousin of Gorguts’ debut album, ‘Considered Dead‘, this lesser known full-length is infact superior to the Canadian disincarnation because of it’s radical approach to riff progression, focusing on an evolving dynamic backdrop upon which a single riff can retain it’s essential shape while being contorted and reiterated through tempo and rhythm in order to create meaning, like the consciousness of a baby being altered by an awareness of mortality far ahead of it’s years. By subtly assigning an extra dimension to the linear template of change in riffs, Necrophiliac compensate for the instrumental format of Death Metal, rivalling the layered unfolding of an orchestral symphony within this compact, prismatic scheme. Songs like ‘Necrotic Narcosis’ and ‘Cyclic Pathology of Natura’ juxtapose the stages of organic decay against a sense of holistic awareness by oscillating between stuttering, rhythmically unstable patterns and fluid, more articulated passages where there isn’t just one speed of up- or down-tempo but many grades of fast and slow. The interaction of additional guitarwork is another important feature of the album, as the riffs change little in themselves, one guitar will often diverge from the main theme to add details in the form of microcosmic, melodic and rhythmic embellishments that eventually resolve themselves with the main theme resulting in epic riffs such as in ‘Astral Corpse’ or outbursts of lead guitar. The production of ‘Chaopula…’ throws the bass guitar into full prominence, which is highly appropriate as it compliments the guitarwork brilliantly to ground moments of melodic excitement to the central riff, and conversely, to enhance the sense of shifting momentum and tone to the main passages. The drumming is simple but like the other instruments, deceptively aware of the dynamic requirements despite not utilising too many different patterns and fills.
The maturity of thought behind ‘Chaopula – Citadel of Mirrors’, transforming thanatological studies into sublime, out-of-body experiences is what guided all the elite entries in this cadaverous canon of Death Metal, rather than purely musical knowledge or a sensory fascination with the genre’s husk. With song-titles such as ‘Image Control in Biosphere of Unreal’, it hints that the band were approaching a Vedantic understanding of reality and the self through death. The days when these ancient cults reigned are long gone and the practice of the music has irreversibly changed, but returning to this immutable knowledge will never cease to transform the riff into a mystical key and unlock the gates of death and eternity.
Filed under: Death Metal Album of the Week — Tags: Death Metal, Spanish Death Metal — ObscuraHessian @ June 11, 2010 02:08 — Comments (3)
This is a great review! I have read and re-read it a few times and each time i get more and more out of it!
Thank you for the tip on this one, i will have to track it down!
Comment by TheWaters — June 11, 2010 @ 06:36
Damn good underrated album. I love bands like Necrophiliac, Forgotten Woods, Ripping Corpse, and Burzum that use lead guitar as a serious structural/compositional device rather than just a way to show off technical ability.
Comment by the goddamn batman — June 11, 2010 @ 22:03
[...] to its vastly larger neighbour, Spain, which probably boasts an even more scant number of memorable little releases from the golden age of grindcore and death metal. While the country’s major global success [...]
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