I'll admit it, I found myself bored with AoP's previous offerings of basic post-black. It’s a well-trodden genre when sticking to the basics. But here...my God, what a swansong. Fusing post-black, post-metal, and industrial; Teethed Glory and Injury is a truly unique experience that despite all innovation is no less grim or enjoyable than the original BM acts that inspired it.
So forget everything you thought you knew about Altar of Plagues. If you didn’t know it was them going in, you never would have guessed it. Gone are the cascading tremolos and rhythm chords. Gone are the distant howls and blastbeats. What remains is a thumping, pulsating human heart. Its beating can be heard in the pounding drums and accented starts and stops of discordant guitar, bpm rising and falling through various emotional soundscapes.
”God Alone” sounds like a fire alarm signaling the inevitable release of rage. This is accompanied by some of the most vile, contemptible BM vocals I have heard since Gorgoroth first hit the scene. “Burnt Year” turns a basic 4:4 beat and dissonant backdrop of guitar clamor into a vision of hopelessness. “Twelve Was Ruin” is a spectacular build from ambient to a bending, contorting madness of distortion, electronics, and screams. The only rest seems to be found in “A Remedy and Fever.” But even this turns out to be no more than repressed torment splitting at the seams.
I could go on with song after song of extremely unique riffs and expert harnessing of noise, but I’ll leave the rest for you to discover on your own. Despite the fact that I was two years late to this album, it quickly became one of my most-listened albums. It’s addictive, and it doesn’t hurt that the price tag is only $7.49 CAD (about $6). Add this to your collection of completely unique black metal experiences today.