Often, whenever I am stuck for time and need to stretch a review out, the material sounds like the supposed influences given by the promo blurb. With Venomous Echoes, however, I find it more noticeable how closely I can link individual sections to the bands mentioned by the blurb. Morbid Angel, Howls of Ebb, Esoctrilihum, Portal and Ulthar all are imitated during individual sections of Split Formations And Infinite Mania and the artist usually does so in a tasteful manner, straddling the line between inspiration and pastiche overall rather successfully. Some chunky, lowtuned riffs might recall a Morbid Angel more strongly occupied with brutality, with how much groove and rhythmic interest will be dished out. Other times, the material gets more abstract, weaving dissonant, trebly textures that recall Portal with how abrasive and harmonically indecipherable they are. I have heard all of this better elsewhere, but the combination and variety is pleasant, even at the risk of turning into needle drop death metal. Venomous Echoes only really drop the ball during an extended noise section which adds little to the album – an unfortunate habit picked up from their most avant-garde influences.
Beyond what the band do instrumentally, the album also has a conceptual angle. Split Formations and Infinite Mania is supposed to focus on the artist’s, Benjamin Vanweelden, own body dysmorphia and its “psychological implications” with special consideration given to the body as a prison and its own deterioration. The blurb even aims to highlight the project’s emotional heights. Unfortunately, the concept doesn’t communicate all that well through the chosen musical language. The vocals are certainly expressive, employing a plethora of shrieks and low growls to convey the artist’s emotional state, but the idea of a specific dread connected to the body remains too complicated to be conveyed without studying and understanding the lyrics. I usually do not read lyrics for extreme metal albums, but decided to consider them for this review, as my criticism felt at times unfair. Without being alerted to the album’s concept, I sadly doubt the idea can be plainly communicated, either. A lot of the album’s lyrical approach boils down to body horror steeped in Death Metal English. I empathize with the artist – I don’t feel comfortable in my body either, a lot of the time – but I cannot say that I can feel their despair even with a concerted effort to consume both lyrics and music at the same time. IF you can divorce the album’s ambitions from the performance, this is certainly a good piece of avant-garde death metal, but looking at Split Formations and Infinite Mania under the microscope makes it seem more and more flawed.
