Defacement – Duality (Blackened Experimental Blackened Black Metal)
You just know with some things. You just know with some people. You just know with some books. You just know with some bands. This is a “I just know” example, Duality, the latest from Netherlands’ Defacement. Dutch metal can be goddamn weird at times, to the level that it becomes its own genre. I tried my best calling it “blackened experimental blackened black metal” (obviously I’m joking), but that barely scratches the scabbed surface of this. To truly understand, just listen to this horror directly below as I attempt to make some sense out of it.
I felt my soul come out of my mouth listening to Duality, holy shit. Now, I’d give high marks to their previous full-lengths as well, but Defacement have outdone their own genre destruction this time. One reason for this is the music is delivered with more clarity, which makes it far more punishing than the raw approach of their previous work. You have no choice but to engage with what they’re doing, and soon thereafter realize your brain can’t comprehend the level of musical decay. Duality presents strange electronica and gloom-setting atmospheric touches at certain points, but among these brief respites the track set is absolutely devastating. Defacement crafts their own sound, and then promptly destroys it by the next song, yet they can grind and pummel better than the best. Extremely experimental to the point that it defies any clear definition, Duality is a “no coming back from this” kind of album. Nothing will ever compare again, and everything else is like straw in volcanic fire.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Defacement – Duality
Avantgarde Music, Total Dissonance Worship, Unorthodox Emanations
Cover Art: RF Pangborn
5 / 5
