First up on this rather massive disc are four lengthy new tracks from this increasingly diverse act, beginning with the nearly seven-minute title track - winding through everything from sparse ambient guitar textures and subdued percussion to chilling clean passages, crushing yet dissonantly melodic power chords, eerie arpeggiated riffing, droning guitar textures, and then some... with both sick vocal snarls and some singing. It's a little more disjointed in construction than some of the band's past work, which isn't something that necessarily works in their favor, but there are absolutely some incredible moments, and the at times frantic drumming helps carry things along and provide a nice contrast to passages such as the acoustic lined run that closes out the track. "Firmamentum", a shorter track at just past four minutes, follows with a more linear and persistent approach using watery clean guitars and soft, lulled singing in the background - switching over to distortion for a consistently pounding sludge attack around two minutes in, though not without its melodic lead lines and added little nuances. Instrumental "Rumsprigan Segue" then carries on with detuned chords rising and falling for almost its entire duration and is honestly incredibly irritating and bland with its abrasive and amelodic attack on the ears, so to me it really feels like a throwaway track that doesn't even come close to comparing to the power and intrigue of the other three new cuts. Another whopper, "Pleasure to Burn", takes about a minute to build in with buzzing electronic noises and thudding percussion joined by reversed guitars and rhythmically swaying discordant riffing that has a really different sound from most of the other material (perhaps comparable to a twisted take on a contemporary midpaced Norwegian black metal feel). Another acoustic break with some nice singing vocals colors this one up nicely, and I think the band could do some wonderful things with that aspect of their approach given a hint more development. The recording's not bad on these new tunes. A little rough around the edges, and certainly something that could benefit from some polishing up, but fairly effective nonetheless. Sometimes it feels a little too dry or perhaps compressed together, but the drums are crisp and natural and you can hear the bass working its magic in there too, so... I have no significant issues with it. I'd suggest trying to give the guitars a warmer, more dominant crunch, while letting the vocals keep that colder sheen and ensuring that the rhythm section basically remains closely as is. Added on as a bonus are a slew of previously released tracks, the first of which are the three epic jaunts that originally made up the "Scales of Truth" LP, each of which tops eight minutes and offers a similarly well contrasted approach to the newer material: Ranging from bleak and doom laden rhythms to twisted melodic or dissonant runs, almost sludgy chord progressions with a little bit of a rock vibe, or calm clean passages with a ton of emotion. On these tunes the vocals are both vicious low growls and slightly higher snarling screams. "Personification of Time" is chock full of slick clean guitars and ringing melodic arpeggios that are incredibly forceful, and that's the kind of shit that just hits you right away. "Extinguishing Fire in its Season" is much more dissonant, but still uses a lot of thick chords and overlaid melodies, not to mention some killer basswork (which is sadly lacking in the new material due to lineup changes that have forced chief visionary Sacha Dunable to currently handle guitar, bass, and vocals) that just rages all over the place. The 10-minute "Crook and Flail" opens with some lush clean guitars and driving rhythms that sound a bit more modern in their mangled note combinations, eventually breaking off some brief Slayer-esque hammer-on/pull-off riffs that are somewhat out of place in the grand scheme of things. A lot more effects are used over certain guitar and bass parts here, creating a spacey sort of feel at times, and some of that loosely experimental vibe has definitely carried over into the new stuff. The production is similarly rough at the seams, though actually a little louder and perhaps clearer on these tracks. Certain lower tones can get a tad muddy, but it sounds pretty good all things considered - perhaps a vague smidge better than the new material, actually. Then it's three more rather long tracks from the band's 2001 split CD with Uphill Battle, which is actually the only Anubis Rising release that I hadn't previously encountered (their debut EP, "Opening of the Mouth", is not included here - obviously due to time constraints). Aside from the raspy vocal snarls, a lot of this material definitely reminds me more of Mindrot or something of that nature in its use of basic clean runs and gloomy midpaced chord progressions, though the band was already starting to show signs of their wide spanning influences at this time with lots of wild melodic bass runs and strangely jarring dissonant shifts. "Wander in the Shadow-Realm" is slower and more openly sludgy/doom inspired than most anything else herein at the start, but again tends to contrast clean passages and tactfully noisy picking patterns and rhythmic surges after its initial wave passes. Overall these three tracks are right in line with what followed, just barely sloppier in some of the guitar work and understandably rawer in the recording department. Closing things out is an unlisted Eyehategod cover from the "Scales of Truth" sessions that's far noisier and more drenched in effects, so... it's nothing to write home about, but I guess it works as a last minute addition. The layout keeps it simple with a onecard inset and black and white artwork that, while minimal and abstract, does look better than anything else the band has released to date. The text presentation inside is a little boring, but I'm glad the band finally has some cover that doesn't look so bland and uninteresting to me. The succinct lyrics are included and tend to be somewhat abstract in terms of overall messaging: "It passes those gazing overhead you come to me as a hazy dream walking side by side with no meaning to life fading before the ocean's tide passengers in lies bleed unto me as your words seethe unto the blackest grays." When it's all said and done I've yet to be totally floored by these guys, but I've also liked everything they've done. So I truly believe that the reason I haven't been completely blown away is that I know these cats have the potential to really create some intensely devastating music, and I've always got my fingers crossed that they're gonna totally nail it. There are certainly amazing moments throughout many of these tracks, so if you've overlooked the band in the past this CD is the best place to start since it contains all of their best work thus far. Not bad, but they're still pushing for that special something more.
[Uncouth Industries]
Running time - 75:46, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Funerary Preamble, Firmamentum, Personification of Time, Wander in the Shadow-Realm]
Uncouth Industries - http://www.uncouth-industries.com
