Tracklist:- Pathetic Existence
- Useless Shell of Void
- Urbanistic Echo of Evolution
- Human Becomes an Idiot
- One Step to the Grave
- Torments for the Alteration
- Society Equals Zero
- Two-Faced Soul of Humanity
- Infinity
Journeying to Siberia: a view to Eurasian culture,
cuisine, and…uh, death metal? No rest
for the wicked, as my inter-cultural explorations were interrupted by an
impromptu meeting with self-described technical death metallers, Lost
Conception. Krasnoyarsk’s own monsters
of death metal are a 5-piece outfit, and Paroxysm of Despair, released last
year on Russian label, Darknagar Records, is their debut 9-track, 41-minute
outrage against humanity’s ills.
For all the connotations of
“technical death metal”, Paroxysm of Despair lurks no more comfortably under
the shadow of one clawed wing of metal than does the modern death metal genre
in general. Lost Conception have pulled
together a number of styles, creating a bruised and brutal synthesis which
showcases both flexibility and technical talent. As explained in their recent interview, the
original brutal flailings of pioneers of the genre, such as Death, form a major
influence. Riffs form in jagged,
discordant outcrops which overlook snarled vocals and punishing drum
lines. There are, however, moments of
conventional melody and harmonic concord which, while often sitting, sullen,
beneath the fiery skies of death metal fury, nevertheless bear witness to the
melodic and mellow sides of the genre: see, in particular, tracks 1, Pathetic
Existence, and the instrumental, 9, Infinity.
For a band which flowing between
cracks in a fragmented genre, it is suitable that their debut should, too, be
set on such shifting musical sand.
Throughout are ever-turning tides of rhythms, tempos, and musical
themes. Setting the tone for successive
songs, Pathetic Existence opens the album to a barrage of red fury, subsiding
into tight, powerful motifs, before entering a carefully-considered, mellow
core, with reverberating melodies to haunting guitars. As an appetiser, try thinking of a musical
garlic baguette…with a coating of volcanic rock and broken glass just beneath
the crust.
Well, you’ll be relieved to know
that Lost Conception’s music is better than their proverbial culinary
skills. It’s a great opportunity to test
and flaunt some impressive performance and compositional skill. A bass line, which continually detaches
itself from chord patterns to stride with flair and arrogance through complex
harmonies, is particularly pleasing.
Amid a hail of blistering drum beats, mention would also be well given
to guitars, which duel and twist in saw-blade synchrony, slashing swathes
through the fabric of the album with both jarring discord and black melodies
(track 5, One Step to the Grave, displays both in equal measure). Clearly, the luxury of having two independent
guitar composers in the band is one well appreciated.
But this approach – for all its
musical prowess – refuses to let the music settle, establishing a constant tension
as themes fly past in continual motion.
And while the coarse brutality of the music well invokes a “Paroxysm of
Despair”, it’s relentless fury, almost unrestrained for 40 straight minutes,
ensures the record poses almost as great a challenge for the listener as it
does the performed. There are moments,
certainly, where it sounds like Krasnoyarsk’s wings of death have been
clipped. In rare instances where rhythms
and themes begin to settle – tracks 1 and 9, in particular, being good examples
– the waters are as quickly stirred, as choppy, broken beats and abrasive riffs
again break the momentum. Riveting
themes to cold, hard land, this continually prevents them from gathering the
power they promise and deserve.
But then, perhaps all that’s to
be expected, when the lyrical themes and content is considered. Setting a background to the music, these are
a catalogue and categorisation of humanity’s flaws, in merciless detail. One the one hand, this is a fairly standard
protest against the worst excesses of modern individualism and power, and is
established early into track 1, Pathetic Existence: “Stay out of being
indifferent/To other people’s problems and miseries”. By track 6, Torments for the Alteration, come
attacks on “Wealthy, fat, and stupid tyrants”, with the wealth and idiocy of
the powerful returning in the following track, Society Equals Zero. Thus established, the link between tyranny
and wealth spawns a demand for change: “Tyrants who oppressed feeble
people/Will be equalised with them” (Torments for the Alteration).
What sets these lyrics apart from, say, the protests of
bands such as Engel, however, is a notable contempt also towards the masses,
who are often portrayed as negatively as the tyrants who rule them. Certainly, this ain’t a populist
manifesto. In the first instance, this
animosity towards the man on the street can be seen as a result of his
successful indoctrination by a corrupt system, which deprives him of the
ability to articulate an independent voice.
Running through a catalogue of public ills, from “TV” and “Web” to
“Gossips” and “Publicity”, the tellingly titled Human Becomes an Idiot thus
concludes its polemics:
All affects the person,
All affects the brain,
All affects the mind,
Human grows stupid.
This premise forms the background
to the main characterisation of humanity, as a violent, malevolent body, giving
“Licence to the brute force” (Torments for the Alteration). And, whatever positives there are to be
found, human behaviour is hopelessly compromised by the dual character of its
core instincts: on the one hand, “Instincts, lust and primal fears”; on the
other, “Kindness, honesty and wisdom”.
But this feels like more than just a philosophical work on a human-wide
crisis. A more clearly personal tone is
offered in track 3, Urbanistic Echoes of Evolution, which mourns the existence
of a concrete-encased, unfeeling population: “Nerds no need of soul or
heart/They lost their face, they dressed in masks”. For this nice bunch of talented, musically
educated gentlemen, perhaps the real meaning of their revolt against the masses
is the compulsion they feel around them, to surrender their morals and fit
seamlessly into a society with no need for their talents.
As this gives an insight into the
band’s inner philosophy, however, it is also reveals a the challenges facing a
non-native Anglophone band writing lyrics in English. “Everyone speaks English,” it was explained
to me on meeting the band, “but Russian is only spoken in Russia.” But, as much as Lost Conception’s
English-language lyrics allow their international followers a glimpse of their
worldview, the roughness of vocabulary, the haphazard nature of grammar, and
the obliqueness of wordplay provide a constant challenge to anyone seeking to
penetrate deeper into their meaning.
It’s a drawback which is
symptomatic of the album’s flaws in general.
Lost Conception have stretched their canvas over a wide conceptual and
sonic horizon, covering a range of topics in a number of musical shades. For all the versatility and skill of their
music, though, the rage and hatred are so full-on that it becomes difficult to
listen through the entire album in a single sitting. And yet, there remains something
distinctively alluring to Krasnoyarsk’s revolt of the “nerds”. Through what they seek to achieve, Lost
Conception have produced a highly accomplished work. The interplay of instruments – bold and
creative – is rarely standard, much less boring; when the allow the music to
unfurl its wings, it shows real signs of depth and power; and, while frequently
breaking up songs into musical shrapnel, the quantity and consistent quality of
the various musical themes is nevertheless highly impressive. Perhaps not ones for the musical neutral, but
death metal connoisseurs will certainly find themselves working up a frothy
drool.
Production: 4/5
Lyrics: 2/5
Album Cohesion: 3/5
Music: 7/10
Percentage Score: 64/100
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