For a couple of years now Effluence has been creating some of the most polarizing music that prowls the dark corners of the internet. What started as a demented exercise in stretching brutal death metal to its tangible limit, the self-proclaimed ‘free-death’ band has always been experimental first, metal second. A key difference that separates them from many of their commonly associated contemporaries like the bands Encenathrakh and Last Days of Humanity. Though at this point in their career, it almost feels disingenuous to compare them to the aforementioned bands, whereas their current sound is farther removed. In turn giving Effluence more spiritual commonality with artists like Naked City and Skin Tension nowadays. While at prima facie, the realization that this EP is only sixteen minutes long may be disheartening, but worry not— Effluence has arguably crafted their most concise and realized achievement yet. Though oxymoronic when said aloud, it’s surprising for a band that indulges in such excess to also acknowledge when less is sometimes more.
Destructive Transfixed Incorporeality is Effluence at their most unhinged, and that’s definitely saying something given their morbid body of work thus far. The three songs here encapsulate their evolved sound and even manages to break new ground for the band.
2021’s
Psychocephalic Spawning showed Effluence pulling off a particularly excellent marriage of brutal death metal and free improvisation that hadn’t been done quite that well before (or ever since). The album effectively put everyone that ever touched a cowbell to shame. Jokes aside— after expanding the limits of that formula, 2022’s
Sarmat and
Liquified saw Effluence somehow taking
even more creative liberties with their sound. The band progressed further into avant-garde territory and began to morph out of their brittle parameters and truly let loose with reckless abandon.
Sarmat is an ambitious single twenty-six minute track that goes off the rails with claustrophobic extremity that genuinely borders on gore-noise and revels in multi-instrumental free-jazz madness that’s meant to assault the senses, damn near rendering the listener numb.
Liquified distances itself from the constraints of metal and is considerably less suffocating than its predecessor, gaining improved audio clarity, and dare I say, ..focus? Believe it or not, the release goes in an even more eclectic direction, and their ever growing flirtation with grinding experimentation lends to the crafting of some downright outré tunes meant only for the weirdest of weirdos.
Liquified basks in the absurdity of a kitchen appliance concept, managing to carry an almost silly demeanor through the grotesquery. All accompanied by a wry self-awareness of how obnoxious it really is (I mean, how could you not?). This particular niché of unpredictable extremity the band had carved out for themselves at this point was so consistent, those that noticed the mad genius that was Effluence waited with bated breath for their next endeavor. Then a year passed— enter:
Destructive Transfixed Incorporeality. Upon just looking at this album, it’s a jarring contrast to
Liquified’s crudely drawn kitchen blender right out of the gate, establishing a dangerous edge to the music before you even listen to it. The obvious white-elephant in the room is the awful picture occupying
Destructive Transfixed Incorporeality’s album cover. While I believe it’s in poor taste to use gore on album covers in general, this wouldn’t be the first instance of Effluence featuring gore on one of their covers. But then again, this time it just hits
different. Admittedly, it doesn’t feel out of place juxtaposed with the noises you’ll hear on this thing, but the dismal aftermath of someone un-aliving themselves is obviously something most people would hope to avoid ever seeing. Perhaps it’s another example of staring into the cavernous darkness and that darkness glaring back into you deeper than most people are comfortable with. It all feels like an underlying intention (for better or for worse) and the picture plays into the inherently harrowing nature of this release. Nevertheless, the album cover utilizes itself as the opposite of a warm welcome, and figuratively speaking, is a very effective
‘Do Not Enter’ sign if I’ve ever seen one.
It seems Effluence’s goal this time around, more than ever, is to be as gnarly as (in)humanly possible. The percussion playing is violent and feral to the point of being seemingly incoherent. As for the drum set, it sounds like they’re still using the whole damn kitchen, no pot, tin kettle, or glass lid is spared. The overall sound manipulation and dabbling in cinematique instruments create a uniquely disorienting atmosphere. The way the rabid vocals are interlaced, even amidst the bludgeoning bedlam that’s ‘Primitive Hostility’— manages to somehow jumpscare the listener 0:36 into the track.
Destructive Transfixed Incorporeality pulls it back a
bit and finds a sweet spot between
Sarmat’s unbridled formlessness and carries over
Liquified’s quirkier approach to songwriting by letting other instruments take center stage. While the two smaller tracks are deceptively dense and have more to unpack, the real breakthrough here is the eleven minute title track. The aforementioned song’s opening in particular harkens back to
Psychocephalic Spawning’s dainty brutal death metal skeleton before slowly materializing into something much more sinister. The track collapses into a drugged-out film noire tenor saxophone wheezing along that sounds like it's ripped straight out of a David Lynchian nightmare sequence (so basically, the entire movie). It only oozes downward and the song transpires into a surreal sound collage, creating an anxiety-inducing soundscape transporting the listener to the bleakest crevices of the mind, ala the unravelment of the human psyche and the forfeit of the soul. The sonic landscape at this point can be likened to the audio equivalent of a deranged tragedy. Distant pianos and horns weave in and out of the disarray. Cursed sounding synthesizers and power electronics envelop unsettling vocal loops from the delirious.
‘I would invite the demons into my house / the devil will possess you’. If it wasn’t already apparent, this isn’t about the supernatural, but about the scariest monsters of them all— human beings. The more superlatives used, the more it demystifies the delightful anomaly that is this song and it just needs to be experienced to be appreciated.
It goes without saying, this is not something that can be recommended to everyone— though, if you’re a really cheeky bastard, this could make a fine addition to your ‘they listen to everything’ playlist. Whether this is trying to say something vaguely profound with the album picture/cellphone/album’s title, or if the whole thing is just an absurd, meaningless, test in dexterity where the ‘drums go brrr’, doesn’t actually really matter. For all we know, this project could be a pessimistic caricature of what people who hate extreme metal
think it sounds like. I, on the other hand, think they’re kind of brilliant and are doing innovative things with music, so
maybe Effluence gets to have their cake and eat it too. I can go on and on, but at the same time— I’ve already used too many words on the minutiae of something that’s intentions were never meant to be deciphered in the first place. Trying to make sense of the nonsensical is a fool’s errand, and I adore them for making me want to try anyway. This is music intended only for the purveyors of the noisiest and sickest there is. Effluence’s passion for extremity is nothing short of endearing and they continue to be one of the most fascinating bands making music today. Honestly, few other artists give me hope for the future like Effluence does.
