Review Summary: Black Metal beyond words
In recent years USBM has become little more than a joke, but with bands like Krallice and Nightbringer on the scene we can safely sleep at night knowing there are bands out there who can set the childish kvlt bull*** aside long enough to produce an album capable of standing alone in its own right rather than leeching of the reputation/infamy of its members. This album opens up with a great track, catchy riffs and great interlocking dynamics that twist and tie themselves around the whirling thunder of the rhythm section. The song may be long but it manages to keep you interested with wonderful dynamic songwriting and a controlled air of technicality. While many folks will complain about the bass being to forward in the mix, it’s a welcome aesthetic change for a band trying to accomplish something vastly different from your typical lot of pseudo-intellectual occultists.
As the album continues on its path of controlled chaos the songs weave themselves together into a long, single structure with each track accomplishing something that lends to the larger image of the whole records. Thankfully each individual track is an enjoyable listen in and of itself but the entire record still remains an awesome sonic journey. The flow of the record is paced perfectly, each song’s place in the mixture is carefully calculated and executed to a ‘t’; all the way from the powerful vocal-asskicking of the intro of ‘Autochthon’ to the dark majesty of ‘The Mountain’.
What a lot of people seem to overlook is the fact that this album is laden with hooks and things that keep you coming back to it, things that make this album special. Its listenable qualities far exceed releases of its kind in recent years and that is much more important than how ass-backwards and kvlt you can make the production. While Krallice’s approach is anything but orthodox, it’s a unique assault that isn’t afraid to blaze its own trail. A rebel among rebels, the true essence of Avant-Garde. ‘Dimensional Bleedthrough’ is a monolith of progressive metal and a monument of what can be accomplished when you let the music speak for itself.
