Some genres can pose unusual challenges to a reviewer. For example, we discussed the challenges of reviewing a short grind album like Arthouse Fatso‘s Sycophantic Seizures in a voice call, as the short length demands an attentive listen, which can easily lead to a discussion of the album on a song by song basis — and attentive, active listening dictates that the album can hardly be listened to while doing something else for reviewing purposes. Conversely, long albums can pose a challenge, as the long form can lead to opposite: the album is inviting to be listened to passively, which can lead to very few individual sections sticking with the reviewer. What do you highlight in this case?
Brutal death metal as a genre can have its own challenges in regards to reviewing. The genre’s palate is not necessarily smaller than other genres. I would argue that the genre has a pretty broad stylistic range compared to black metal or more mainstream-oriented forms of death metal, for example. As a genre built around kinetic energy, however, it is not particularly catered to active listening, either. Listening to brutal death metal I often find myself going with the flow, intuitively knowing if an album is good or not. “The vibes are right” is not a sufficient review, leaving me with the struggle to find out what actually is good about the album at hand. Iniquitous Savagery have made a good album here, and it is all about the execution. Digging into why the album is good is more complicated, however. Particularly, Inquitous Savagery are strong in the ways in how they navigate the genres tropes. Edifice of Vicissitudes is an album chock full of groove. Tightly executed chugs trade with runs that execute with the accuracy of a sewing machine. Iniquitous Savagery knows when to switch tempos to enhance the groove or highlight the barbarity of a faster section. The album is tight in the ways it has to be, with the band playing rhythmically tight when they need to but playing it loose with the general rhythmic framework, switching between different feels seemingly on a dime. Iniquitous Savagery specializes in fake-outs with songs often ending abruptly before entering a new section, making the material unpredictable without ever losing momentum. In short: the vibes are right.1 And for brutal death metal, that is all it needs — even if easier said than done.
- Remember folks, if you make vibes the claim, and prove vibes… you’ve qualified the vibes!! – Editor ↩︎
