INTOLITARIAN - Deathangle Absolution (2014)

(Written by guest writer Lance Viggiano)

I don't give a damn about high art, structure, beauty in darkness or aesthetics. What fulfills me and defines my listening habits is an engaging visceral experience. While this record lacks in musicality, it makes up for it in spades with concrete imagery; driven by the ego and id.

Unfortunately, it is mired by what might be colloquially termed: right wing edgelord spoken word. Although they form the complete listening experience, the content is most cringeworthy; though not for the beliefs themselves, but the self-aggrandizement portrayed with an entitled and dulcet toned voice which the artist attempted to cover using voice modulation. Conceptually, the idea of a pirate radio broadcast is unique and most fitting for an intersection between harsh noise, war metal and power violence. Unfortunately that concept is hindered by the egotistical rants of the artist who has little to show for his perceived superiority beyond owning a label and putting out quality music.

Though the criticism above is damning, its quality is exceptional for extreme music. Aesthetically unforgiving and structurally nihilistic, the second Intolitarian full length improves upon Berserker Savagery with the inclusion of hooks. Like war metal, these hooks come primarily from the rhythm and vocal department. Unlike war metal, the result is not simply a drunk man yelling over the white noise of a television set while a toddler learns to blast beat on pots and pans. The tonal noise is fully formed conceptually and does not languish in the background like the "riffs" of metal bands seeking to artificially and poorly recreate the accidental sound of Blasphemy and early Beherit demos.

Where its predecessor forsook any repetition that such patterns emerged, this album embraces pattern creation. This results in an experience that stays with the listener on a level deeper than an overall impression of the experience. It is not inaccurate to state that the album is memorable; one may find oneself wishing to return to individual tracks. There is an undeniable appeal to the pleasure centers for fans of extreme music. While many may scoff at such things, it is my opinion that the inclusion of tunefulness grounds a work which could have easily devolved into directionless extremity for its own sake as was hinted at by Berserker Savagery.

But what does the album “sound” like? Perception is in the eye of the beholder; however, it evokes the clear image of a post-industrial barbarian war band dragging the ruins of the Industrial world through its own wreckage and pillaging what remains of human settlement. A clear and present disdain for the values of the fallen civilization grounds the record in reality as the values required to thrive in such dark ages are considerably different than the loudest being championed today. The warriors at the end of progress broadcast on a makeshift network of old baroque technology their ideals seeking recruits and driving the push onward towards the remaining concentrations of urban wealth to be raided and re-purposed for a future that has little concern for the aspirations and security sought by the old-ideology.

This is the music of the monsters which haunt the dreams of the civilized. It is also the sound of the future: ragtag bands of nomads roaming the harsh, polluted, and infertile ruins of the industrial; under a harsh unstable climate. The roar of appropriated technology, salvaged remains and small vehicles consuming the last of the world's fossil fuels as they litter the poisoned landscape province to province and subsistence farm to subsistence farm with bullet shells, tire tracks and scorched bodies.

This is powerful sensory imagery which takes itself seriously. More importantly than that, it gives meaning to the chaos and reason to say yes to an unforgiving world. When most of us today can see the slowly tightening noose around our necks, the embrace of violence and loyalty brings unexpected comfort knowing that the world and humanity lives on without that which we were raised to expect. The inklings of a nation arise out of loyalty and piracy and in such a world we find a sense of hope, purpose and meaning. The artist avoids fantasies of sudden collapse and extinction as a popular coping mechanism; choosing instead to embrace a vision of the world that looks more post-Roman than post-apocalyptic.

This album can be purchased from Hell's Headbangers records.