ALBUM REVIEW: Qrixkuor – Poison Palinopsia

Obscure Blackened Death Metal trio QRIXKUOR return from the abyss with their debut album. Set for release on August 13th via Dark Descent Records and Invictus Productions.

The introduction of this album is daunting to say the last with a mixture of bombastic and unsettling tones to concoct a potent feeling of dread.The way in which crashing cymbals subtly come in under lurking guitar riffs with demonic vocals is no less disturbing, opening a passage of convulsive and unwelcoming Death Metal that descends upon us with vitriol and profoundly otherworldly atmospherics. The word cavernous has become ubiquitous with a lot of Death Metal in recent years but here it could not be more appropriate with the fashion in which the riffs drip upon the drums in truly eerie splendour and a voice of inhuman snarls meets the instruments to complement rather than detract from the dastardly ambience. Portals open as dreary passages take the charnel soundscapes further into another realm, contorting with mystical musicianship that is truly wonderful to behold. Now, to discuss the vessel in which this music is carried. Monolithic production values of utmost power hold this release with a ferociously united sound that is piercing when it needs to be then unleashes a weighty blow of darkness. This is obviously not going to be an easy listen, but a warped abyss of Blackened Death Metal malice to altar the psyche.

Dynamic would be an understatement, here we can see a lurching doom progress with organic transitions into a full on rampage of blast beats and tremolo riffing madness only to descent into hammering onslaughts before returning to contemplative psychedelia. Swirling guitars and bass continually play off of each other to give a spasming effect while in unison give us a meditative ambience with the ritualistic drum work pummelling throughout while not becoming stale as we see powerful hits break the mould for the obliterating strings to seep through. Vocally the album invokes the best of Black and Death Metal with sinister and haunting passages to meet a savagery of unbridled proportions. This accentuates all of the discourse in the dissonant lead work and then devolved back to a primal rhythmic bellowing, allowing the trio to explore many passages of the mind while returning to a sort of dialogue that can return to a neutral point before forcefully erupting once more into chaos. If ever there was an example of an album somehow being funereal and yet ecstatically energetic in a way that will grab you by the throat, this is it.

This is Black-Death Metal at its most majestic. A mind-opening experience of meditative, volatile and sporadic music that is reached with a masterful execution both in terms of skilful songwriting and also the playing itself, with a magnificent production and aesthetic to offer the opus at its best in terms of presentation. The two songs are luxuriously embellished while avoiding pompous pretence or unnecessary dawdling. Everything you hear is necessary to convey the album while certainly not holding back on the expansive yet claustrophobic experience that one can not only hear, but see and feel.