Whoever said that Industrial Metal is boring and commercial has clearly never listened to whatever Ævangelist has been up to. Do they even know what they’re doing? Ever since De Masticatione Mortuorum In Tumulis, the band has developed this bizarre blend of Death, Black, and Industrial Metal, all wrapped in the most lo-fi production possible. It’s such a dense listen that I was genuinely worried I might hate Perdition Ekstasis Meta. Was it because it’s so far removed from anything we might consider enjoyable, or because it lacks something previous it previously had? Either way, I came in ready to give this disturbing album a chance. Let’s go!
Perdition is an energy vortex. You listen to it, and you can feel it sucking the life out of you. It’s like walking around with a rainy cloud over your head—except the cloud is raining sulfuric acid. It’s not the most brutal or fastest album out there, but Perdition manages to make you feel more uncomfortable than when your parents explain how babies are made in front of your friends during dinner. You’re never going to recover from that, and the same is true here: there’s no redemption, no happy moments, no beauty. Only perversion and confusion.
Sure, the electronic experimentation always takes center stage with Ævangelist. It’s part of the whole oppressive atmosphere of the album. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what kind of feelings or images Perdition is trying to evoke, aside from absolute negativity. I wouldn’t recommend this album if you’re going through depression—it might push you further to the edge. Yet, I can’t help but admire that the band keeps doing its thing, and nobody else comes close to creating something so mechanically evil. You might love it or hate it, but you have to respect it. That said, there are a few things that did bother me from a more concrete perspective.
I feel like Perdition could use some trimming. The ideas per track are interesting, but they linger too long. Given how smothering this style is, I found myself zoning out often during the album’s runtime. Maybe this is intentional, but it adds another layer of difficulty to Ævangelist‘s work, and I’m not sure it needs to be even more challenging for the listener. Also, I know the band likes to sound raw and abrasive, but I can’t fully get on board with how rusty the production is. I always wonder, what if it sounded just a bit cleaner? Would it lose its magic, or would it gain strength? I guess that’s part of the mystery we’re grappling with here.
This might be the most niche product we’ve reviewed here in a while, making it extremely difficult to assign a score. It made me feel like life is devoid of meaning and even Brussels sprouts aren’t that bad after all (that’s the level of damage it can cause!). But then again, that’s the album’s intention. It’s not supposed to make you feel good but to make you uncomfortable with your own misery. Either way, I’ll come up with a number in the next section—just for you!
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Release date: 20 September, 2024
Website: https://www.facebook.com/aevangelist.official/
Country: USA
Score: Perdition, nothing else. 2.5-3.0/5.0 ? For real, rating this album is pointless
Metal Eclipse Reviews 