Dreary, gloomy, doom. That about sums it up. This album is not a cry for help; it is genuinely going to kill itself. Slow, trudging distorted guitar chords, lots of grimy chug, flawless double bass. The production is done so well it’s like sitting in a dark cave listening to the band live. There are some faster moments with the more thrash-based Domain of Decay and Ain Alohim. But honestly my favorite tracks are the bleak, measured plodders. The first 6 tracks are the best, but never would I stop this play before the final curtain.
The key here is contrast. There is a duality of the gritty and grimy with the beautiful. Drown in Ashes is the clearest example. The beautiful female vocals contrast perfectly with Tom’s theatrical, grim, ugliness.
But it is the lyrics and delivery that truly sell the whole thing. There are some clear anthems here: “OS! A-bys-mi, OS!” which translates to “Only Death is Real.” Or “TET-RA-gramm-a-ton!” one of the names for the national god of Israel. There is some great imagery as well: “Frozen is heaven and frozen is hell. And I am dying in this living human shell.” “And I think that I'm all alone. I can feel the rain pull me down again.” It should all come off as a bunch of cheesy, gothic prose, but damned if Tom G Warrior doesn’t sell the shit out of it. There is a genuine sense of longing, loneliness, and hopelessness. As someone who works with people who suffer from clinical depression, these vocals are the closest representation I have seen of the internalized cognitive patterns at play. The lyrics are supposedly influenced by the writings of Aleister Crowley.
There is also some successful but sparing use of industrial elements. These are most apparent on some of the earlier tracks and the last three with very ambient keyboards. Speaking of the last three tracks, they are the most experimental. They form a three-part suite that forms a pretty decent segue into the directions taken on with Triptykon. There is less traditional structure and the songs seem to meander aimlessly with various sounds, voices, guitar feedback, etc. It’s not something I would recommend listening to in isolation, but rather a thematic closing of the album. It’s as if Tom has transitioned from depression into complete despair and is lost in his own personal hell. Things do pick up again a few minutes into part two, with a return to the anthemic, dark vocals being spat more than sung: “In DARKness…Thou. Shall. Wor-ship ME!” There is so much venom it is palpable. Then we close with the most lovely of string arrangements.
In the end, I find this far more accessible than Celtic Frost’s bygone 80’s thrash era and the endless tracks of Triptykon. Song length is generally reasonable averaging about 5 minutes. But don’t get me wrong. If you like this, you definitely have to try Melana Chasmata. Your increased patience will be rewarded.