Review Summary: "Atmosphere, Heaviness and Creativity"
Mitochondrion is a Canadian Death Metal band signed to Profound Lore. The band’s second full-length, Parasignosis, is a fresh and unique album and undeniably one of the most enjoyable Metal albums released last year.
This is a strange record. Its mixing drowns the vocals in a sea of technical drumming and frantic guitar work. And then there’s the incredible (and incredibly good) amount of atmosphere that the band has put in here. Moments of ambiance, bare drums, befouled feedback and even complete silence will make you feel like there is a massive storm approaching that just gets nearer every ***ing second.
Dual guitars unleash frenzied assaults throughout the album. One guitar provides us with good heavy riffs while the other follows a completely different rhythmic path, most of the time creating odd melodic sounds and occasionally some dazzling solos. As you may know by now, cacophonous riffage, pinch harmonics and militaristic percussion are the instrumental arsenal on Parasignosis.
Unfortunately, it tails off in quality in the latter songs of the album. While Kathenotheism works well in drawing the intensity back and acting as a more haunting and brooding piece, I didn’t really feel the need to come back to it after listening through the album a few times. Also, the ambient outro is too long and the fact that it was placed right in the end makes it feel like filler. However, while being distinctive unto themselves, the different tracks bleed into one another in such a way that you cannot simply pick one and claim that song is the most notable, because the majority of them are equally good.
The production on this release is nearly flawless. This band has a very dense sound and I’m glad I’m able to hear every instrument since the vocals are not too high in the mix. When most bands try something like this, it ends up sounding like they are toying with forces they don’t understand, and that’s where Mitochondrion succeeds. The band successfully combines Death and Black Metal, creating an original sound of their own.
This is a beautiful example of a band taking full advantage of atmosphere and production to create an astounding Metal album with not many flaws. This is an album for those who not only like their music heavy, but also those who want to feel rewarded by it and put in the patience required to really take this in.
Recommended Tracks:
- Plague Evokation
- Tetravirulence
- Parasignosis
