Double Header: Kaotoxin

Ah yes, here we go people, it’s time for two-in-one, it’s time for two for the price of one, it’s time for two in your eyes, two in your ears, two in whatever other orifice you have two of.  That’s the whole purpose of the double-header, friends, we give you a quick, meaty dose of something that actually wasn’t intended to be sexually suggestive but now is.  Unfortunately for those of you who now have that mental image, none of the following has anything else to do with sex, blame your own filthy mine.  Seeing as how we received two discs from Kaotoxin, who released a wide variety of awesome beef, we figured it best to give a nice double-dose, by two of our writers.

 

Eye of Solitude: Canto III

The instant visual references on this one pretty much write the entire novel on which it has been based.  Well, epic actually.  Boat rider in a steaming lake?  What else could it be, right?  Correct you are, Inferno.  Really, considering all the anti-Christian references throughout the metal world, it was about time someone did something more substantial with all that forgotten craziness from the medieval period.  All we need now is a band that pulls out the flagellate approach for some stage presence.  Eye of Solitude, however, need no such presence, their music speaks for itself.  Canto III comes after Sui Caedere, which received some acclaim in the underground.  Funeral doom, not so easy to command your power over, because many bands of the “genre” tend to just go for ultra slow except they’re also ultra stupid at writing music.  For it to work, need to know what you’re doing, like here.

Canto III is a hideously massive, overwhelming chunk of sinister, bile-boiling doom that clocks in at over an hour.  And that’s just the first disc.  That’s right, the digipak of this sucker comes with two mega-packed discs, the second featuring bonus tracks from their untitled demo, a live track, and even a music video.  That’s just the dessert, however.  The main course of this one is the first disc, a punishing selection with beautiful orchestral sections, real singing at times, and probably the lowest vocals ever recorded without faking it by turning up the microphone volume.  Those are the foundations of this work, however, the thing anyone going into it needs to realize is there’ practically a lifetime of discovery here.  The density in sound, texture, atmosphere, and approach isn’t something a single listen can capture.  Awesome stuff.  Score: 5 / 5  Eye of  Solitude Official Facebook

Written by Stanley Stepanic

 

Nephren-Ka: The Fall of Ominus

Frank Herbert’s Dune is one of the greatest books (and series) ever written in the science fiction genre. Not only has it inspired TV shows, movies, and computer games, but it’s become the lyrical subject of Nephren-Ka’s The Fall of Omnius. While the name, Nephren-Ka is from Cthulhu mythos, the entire album surrounds concepts and themes from Dune with song titles such as “Feydakins Storm,” “Praise Shai-Hulud,” and “Butlerian Djihad” and uses death metal (Arvenian Death Metal on their Facebook page) as an expression of the extended Dune universe.

First thing first, sigh. What a boring album. The only way this album could get you excited would be if you were playing it as loud as you could tolerate while playing Halo 4 (if anyone still plays) or Dota 2 (unless you play Riki which means you should be too busy hating yourself). The vocals are your standard school lunch affair with no flavor at all. Both the guttural and high screams are substandard and will not send you jumping out of your seat in joy. The bass, as well, really only delivers rhythm providing the 1% milk for your school lunch. There are brief moments where they try to scratch out above the others but are soon covered up before any praise can be said. The drums and guitars aren’t good but they aren’t bad either. It’s difficult to reiterate enough just how standard and plain this is. Perhaps it will get some praise if you’re a Dune fan but otherwise, look elsewhere for some worthwhile sustenance.  Score: 2.5 / 5  Nephren-Ka’s Official Facebook

Written by Cole Olson