Shrines of Paralysis

Album review

Already with their "genre-defining" 2009 album Everything Is Fire, Ulcerate's sound was practically fully formed, and on later albums they have simply gone on to further refine it. Naturally, there has been progression -- the band have honed their instrumental chops, their playing has become tighter, and the composition and arrangements have become steadily more complex -- but, at its core, the Ulcerate sound is the Ulcerate sound: it ain't broke, and they're not going to fix it. And what a sound it is. Sheets and shards of incredibly abrasive, harsh, dissonant guitar work pile up over a pummeling onslaught of drums and grinding bass, and vocalist/lyricist Paul Kelland roars like a wounded animal. Creating a palpable aura of fear, dread, and despair, it's like a black hole that sucks all the light out of the room. It takes several listens to even distinguish the tracks one from another, but eventually they each start to display their own unique character. There's limited variation, to be sure, but enough to keep the album genuinely musically interesting. This is not just noise, by any means: there is both melody and harmony here, and, while dissonant, the music has, at times, its own strange beauty. There are hints of both classical and jazz influence, and the gloomy, gothic pall of classic doom metal. One of the band's trademark gimmicks is combining sludgy midtempo riffs with breakneck drumming to create a kind of auditory illusion. When they let up briefly, as on "There Are No Saviours," the sense of space only goes to emphasize the crushing madness that comes all around it. Listen closely, and you can hear that there's actually incredible instrumental virtuosity going on here, but the band have chosen to mask it, as ever, in a brutally raw, sludgy production job by drummer Jamie Saint Merat. Of course, this is not really a bad thing, as the approach benefits this kind of music tremendously, but it does mean that some of the more virtuosic guitar work is practically inaudible and going largely unsung. It's pretty hard to pick standouts on an album like this, but opener "Abrogation" is particularly bewitching, and "Extinguished Light" and the epic title track are absolute beasts. "Yield to Naught" builds to an almost intolerable climax of grinding, crushing weight, such that it's hard to believe just three people are making this unholy racket. There's no easy way into this kind of stuff, and Ulcerate are largely preaching to the converted, but fans of other forms of extreme music may well find something to their taste. Simply put, this is death metal like she should be wrote.

© John D. Buchanan /TiVo