Reverorum ib Malacht – Im Ra Distare (STFU Title’s Too Long)
I’m, so sick of the hype surrounding this album and I’m going to be as brief as possible, but trust me, it’s goddamn hard not to go off. Practically the only reason I’m reviewing it is because people just can’t STFU about it. I don’t even really like the cover. Oh, wow, some anti-Christian thing “cleverly” masked. Having heard of Reverorum ib Malacht before, for the wrong reasons, and having seen this very album, Im Ra Distare Summum Soveris Seris Vas innoble, drooled upon by one too many critics, for the wrong reasons, I was hesitant to even bother, because it’s nothing you should waste your time listening to, like seriously it isn’t. But then I realized hell yes I need to speak up to myself at least because I appear to be only one of two people that understands why this album is total freaking trash. The issue lies primarily with the fact that metalheads aren’t accustomed to much outside of their delicate safe zone, and when they get a taste of anything nontraditional, they automatically think it’s good for some goddamn reason. This at first suggested to me one of those ten-years-behind-the-times Middle Eastern metal bands the metal world has latched upon because “exotic” until I learned, to my shock, guy’s actually from Sweden? Swedish metal is known for pushing boundaries, but this is a boundary so far pushed it collapsed upon itself inward and should be banned from Sweden.
I’ve read it all, too. “Black metal excess,” “worship,” “atmospheric…never at times comforting,” “weirdness,” “layers upon layers, each more Spartan than the next” (WTF does that even mean), “ambient focus,” just STFUUUUUUUUU. Let me explain one thing clearly, there’s only one band that can do Gnaw Their Tongues, and that’s Gnaw Their Tongues or one of his incarnations. It’s not a genre, is what I’m saying, it’s a band or rather one guy, and you can’t emulate it. Like other bands of this type, trying to steal a crown that doesn’t even exist, Reverorum ib Malacht relies on cacophony for meaning, except there isn’t any. The production is lo-fi on purpose, with generally no consistency and clarity to any of the passages. You’re greeted by blast-beat slams with keyboards over it, moans that sound like frogs in a tunnel, pigs, or petulant moans from a daycare (that’s actually scarier than this), and “guitars” that totally deserve to be put in quotes for irony. There are brief moments you’ll nod to saying “hmm, yes, cutting edge,” but the rest will make you gasp for air in a vacuum. The only reason anyone pretends that metal of this type is good is because their experience with various genres in the noise category is severely limited, if they have any experience in the first place. But it sounds so different…, would be the expected response. So? Does it have anything to say? Does it present any sort of schema or is it merely an exercise in tossing stuff together like Masonna, except the good parts aren’t picked out to make the album? Since metalheads are clueless about this type of music, obviously it must be the future. Just let me say something again, Gnaw Their Tongues is a band by one guy, go listen to his extensive discography, and you’ll see exactly why no one else can do it. Only a label with almost no publishing experience would dare release this, and hey, what do you know? This type of music an only succeed if you’re dude from Gnaw Their Tongues, or if you provide some clear meaning or theme to it, chaos for the sake of chaos doesn’t work anymore.
Reverorum ib Malacht Official Facebook
Written by Stanley Stepanic
Reverorum ib Malacht – Im Ra Distare Summum Soveris Seris Vas innoble
Annapurna Production
1.5 / 5
