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Swallowed-Lunarterial-CD-FLAC-2014-CATARACT
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ARTIST : Swallowed STOREDATE : 00-00-2014
ALBUM : Lunarterial RIPDATE : 11-08-2015
YEAR : 2014 RUNTIME : 53:21 min
GENRE : Death Metal LANGUAGE : English
LABEL : Dark Descent Records GRABBER : EAC Secure
SOURCE : CDDA ENCODER : FLAC 1.2.1
QUALITY : 987 kbps Avg 44.1kHz 2 channels SIZE : 402.5MB
URL : http://is.gd/sjY9Ie TRACKS : 6 Files
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01 Opening Of The Key 1:27
02 Reverence Through Darkness 6:49
03 Arterial Mists Of Doom 3:52
04 Black Aura 9:51
05 Black Phlegm 6:09
06 Libations (Spirit Negation/Elemental Agony/Fields Of 25:13
Slaughtered Pan/The 42 Assessors Of Ma'at/Lords Of
Air/Generation Thru Death)
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53:21 min
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│ Note; track 6's filename had to be shortened, it would exceed the 128 │
│ characters rule. Full title is: Libations (Spirit Negation/Elemental │
│ Agony/Fields Of Slaughtered Pan/The 42 Assessors Of Ma'at/Lords Of │
│ Air/Generation Thru Death) as shown in the nfo and metadata. │
│ │
│ Wondering why the band is called Swallowed? So was I; at least, │
│ until I put Lunarterial on for a spin. It was easy enough to work │
│ out after their musical palette aggressively assaulted my eardrums; │
│ their music swallows you whole and holds nothing back. This │
│ particular flavour of death/doom takes Disembowelmentæs torch and │
│ runs with it proudly, but with a greater emphasis on intensity as │
│ opposed to atmosphere. Transcendence into the Peripheralæs general │
│ moodiness is toned down in favor of an auditory assault of massive, │
│ foreboding doom movements constantly being switched out for low-end │
│ death metal riffs and solos buried deep in the mix. │
│ │
│ Lunarterial pays far less attention to riffs, tonal or otherwise; │
│ itÆs a maelstrom of disorientating intensity and soundscapes │
│ designed to unnerve and pulverize the senses. The playing comes │
│ across as melodically indistinct, not unlike Portalæs early albums. │
│ The construction around instrumental interplay is very tight despite │
│ seeming so naturally free-flowing; bulldozing through confounding │
│ and complex changes in structure, a technique this album builds its │
│ entire foundations from. It entirely forgoes the idea of building │
│ tension and opts for constant yet oddly unpredictable aural assault, │
│ which serves the album beautifully; in an exceedingly filthy way. │
│ │
│ The first half focuses more on the swirling death metal and shifts │
│ in song construction, tracks like ôReverence Through Darknessö │
│ figuratively tearing you a new one with constant blastbeats and │
│ monolithic guitarwork û to great effect. The second half is far more │
│ stoic in nature and takes one aesthetic and runs with it. The doom │
│ metal dominates in a trippy and bewildering way, ôBlack Phlegmö │
│ reminding strongly of Dolorian and Evoken, but more organic as │
│ opposed to an ethereal, trippy soundscape. ôLiberationsö takes it │
│ far deeper into funeral doom territory, still sounding furious and │
│ massive. Despite this track alone taking up nearly half the albumÆs │
│ runtime, the near-27 minute monster doesnÆt outstay its welcome. The │
│ vocals deserve noting, perhaps one of the strongest aspects of the │
│ record û utterly desperate and malevolent rasps and chants that │
│ never stick to one aesthetic too closely, shifting with the dynamic │
│ of the music. The drums carry this shifting dynamic with admirable │
│ gusto and carry the rest of the instrumentation convincingly, the │
│ guitars offering the right amount of texture. A slightly more │
│ melodic touch might have served this albumÆs memorability well, but │
│ the lack thereof doesnÆt derail the experience. │
│ │
│ The production is about as brash and incomprehensible as the music, │
│ and by that, I mean it works well. Crash symbals dominate the mix to │
│ serve the treble-focused intensity with enough low-end for the huge │
│ rhythm guitars and kick drums to have impact. No emphasis on crystal │
│ clarity has been utilized, which gives the album a much more │
│ alluring sound. │
│ │
│ An album as addicting as it is domineering and confident, Swallowed │
│ is less a band that feels the need to innovate and instead proves │
│ that they know what theyÆre bloody well doing. The tightly │
│ constructed yet chaotic music mixed with a very organic and primal │
│ feel is a sensation few bands can achieve. Fans of Mitochondrion, │
│ Dolorian and Disembowlment have a new band to watch with equal │
│ amounts of anticipation and terror. │
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