ALBUM REVIEW: Qrixkuor – The Womb Of The World

Serpentine blackened death metal project Qrixkuor will unleash their second album via Invictus Productions and Dark Descent Records on November 7th.

Nightmarish orchestral passages begin our cerebral inversion. We heard just how cinematic that project dares go on the last EP, “Zoetrope”, and those elements have clearly been harnessed on their new opus. Colliding with spectrally droning guitar riffs, psyche-dissolving leads and balanced cymbals dancing in morbid ecstasy; the baneful choir of Qrixkuor is instrumentally complete and poisonous as ever. The harrowing vocals retain just as much disquieting presence as the rest of the instrumental arrangements, slithering and serpentining in a manner most sinister and distinctive. Those familiar with this musical entity will likely be somewhat prepared for what to expect though the volatility of this band will never leave you with any semblance of certainty. Perhaps those new to these musical flagellations will find themselves caught rather off-guard, overwhelmed or even in a state of panic. From the kaleidoscopic guitars swirling through percussive torment to the mean-spirited snarls of vocals and the backdrop of manic and malignant orchestras, only the most warped and distinguished elements of S’s songwriting have made the cut on this record. My first impressions are a profound sense of dread, a nuclear spiritual cleansing and a need to look over my shoulder. Let us venture further into these estranged abysses…

For me, this bombastic dissonant onslaught is not only magical because of the obvious but even more so due to all of the nuances and hidden subtleties. The occasional bells or horns adding that extra ingredient in this concoction malign. Wandering from passages of rabidly bestial death to blackened delirium; Qrixkuor feast upon your nightmares and paranoias while imploding creation on this psychedelic and potent trip through everything and nothingness alike. Cracking through creation itself and offering its carcass upon the altar of chaos; these discordant operas of violent worldly dissolution will have every hair on your being raised in anguish as tension is used to paint fear across your conscious. Each reverberate string, howl or beat chimes through the abyss and summons forth a charnel diseased energy to eradicate all corporeal life. Using the mediums of black and death metal might seem restrictive in many of its facets; alas Qrixkuor manage to weave an entire cosmos in ever-radiating and evolving forms without betraying the genres hallmarks. Perhaps this is a renaissance of extreme metal, showing how much more it can be than what we expect and hear so much of. Either way, at the heart of this beast, an escape seems improbable and subject to the recordings will which seems to take on a life entirely of its own.

A band like Qrixkuor being masterminded by one person, in this case S, must only accept contributions from those worthy. Thankfully the drumming of D is just as intense and all-consuming in his performance. Greg Chandler’s mixing and mastering has perfectly captured the absolute terror of this opus as has the visuals by Santiago Caruso and Nuno Zuki. This leaves one last damned soul; Jaded Lungs. Adorior are the pinnacle of what British death metal should be, belligerent, fierce and still rooted in the country’s rich heavy metal traditions. With both S and Jaded Lungs playing together in this band, there is logic to her presence. But here we see a different perspective to these musicians dealing death together. Her lacerating performance adds yet another texture of sanguineous destruction and discomfort to this tapestry of pitch-blackness. Until its climax, this record holds you in a sort of suspended animation as though on the verge of panic or accepting your own demise. Each second is a valuable and venomous cut that wounds the soul and yet grows your appetite for more decay and cosmic obliteration. Truly a masterful work in a flawless discography that remains as punishing and surprising as ever. You will drown in the blood of the stars.

Nietzsche’s warning “if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” seems profoundly applicable here, because listening to this album in a darkened room will lead to a sense that its somehow observing you in kind. Each of these four pieces of music is a challenging and rewarding experience, but in the context of the album it grows into a conscious behemoth of its own. Tread lightly, for the nightmare clings to your very being like smoke. If you choose this experience, you will not shake it lightly even when the music stops. Once again Qrixkuor have taken black / death metal to its outermost reaches and yet by doing so show the very essence of what it should be; a terrifying and introspective experience defying all dogmas and flaying the very cosmos with its noxious spells. Hear time tear itself apart and witness the end, the beginning and all things as they envelope you in luminescent nothingness…

For further reading, check out my 2021 interview with S from Qrixkuor here.