Ingurgitating Oblivion- Ontology of Nought

I was there when Ingurgitating Oblivion released Vision Wallows in Symphonies of Light. It was album-of-the-year material in what was probably the best year Metal has had in my lifetime. This won’t be a typical review. You see, Ontological Nought isn’t music you listen to for dealing with emotional issues. This is art, and to fully embrace it, I’m pulling out every weapon in my snobbish arsenal. So I hope you’re ready for the most pretentious review since we covered Ulcerate or Aquilus. On y va!

Nought is total Metal, transcending mere blast beats or distortion. The band can make a triangle sound macabre. There’s a strong influence of composers like Boulez and Schoenberg in its work. The absolute sense of chaos and cosmic randomness in each second of this music is so uncommon in our genre that perhaps only Imperial Triumphant comes close. Yet, instead of the decadence of opulence, what we’ve got here is an absolute horror that reminds me of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time.

What are these lunatics trying to convey? That’s the beauty here. There’s nothing specific to say, and yet every possible emotion is present. You have fun and quirky elements, fear, violence, shock, sadness, and even lust. Nothing escapes the senseless vortex this album creates. It doesn’t have tracks; it has movements that can be complex and technical to an absurd degree, but also touching and slow. I’ve rarely heard an album so meaningless yet so expressive. Stream-of-consciousness Metal that feels like Ulysses!

“Cute Catto, you have some culture, so what?” You’re right. This isn’t Metal for everyone. In fact, it’s for very few people. It’s super long and crushing. There’s next to no catchy melodies or groove, but Ingurgitating Oblivion is moving our art form forward with this work. Not in a million Earths would anyone have imagined that in just over 50 years, we’d go from the simplest and meanest riffs to forms that require a PhD in music to understand. It’s 500 years of academic music in no time. How far we’ve come! So aside from how difficult it is to digest and how “bloated” Nought might feel, there’s nothing wrong with it.

It’s rare when a band not only defies Metal conventions this much but also enters a conversation with other musical traditions. That level of talent and hard work needs to be recognized. I fear this album will go unnoticed by the bulk of our community, only for years later to be acknowledged for what it is: a work of art that makes me proud of what our musicians have to offer to this cruel and pointless world. It might be early to say, but I think there’s a new contender for the most grotesque album of the year. Moreover, I’m certain that Ontological Nought is going to be neck to neck with a few other releases for the AOTY award at MER.

Label: Willowtip Records

Release date: 27 September, 2024

Website: https://www.facebook.com/IngurgitatingOblivionOfficial

Country: Germany

Score: An incomprehensible piece of postmodern art, or 4.5/5.0!