Rites of Thy Degringolade
The Caryatid
[Independant]


Immediately I get the impression that not many people will like this. Why? Because of expectations of how this should sound; in case you didn't know, ROTD is the solo project of Paulus, drummer of the now defunct yet still mighty kings of Edmonton Canada, Sacramentary Abolishment.

Everything here is handled by Paulus, so the entire album has that eccentric one-man band feeling that many of us appreciate.

Apparently the ROTD demo is much more straight-forward, but gladly The Caryatid isn't. By metal standards, this is not easy listening; it is a lesson in dementia.

Here and there one can here that inherent weirdness that S.A. exuded (in their lyrics, song structures), and again much like S.A., ROTD is beyond any sort of genre-defining label, but for sake of this review we will call this 'warped philosophical raw black metal'.

From fast blasting drumming, to slow marches; black metal rasps, to strange speaking samples; speedy mechanical riffing, to ambient guitar noises, this CD is one of the most atypical sounding releases to hit the underground in a long while. Really weird stuff, not suitable for everyone...

Contact: storm@ark11.net to order copies, or thypaulus@usa.net


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