Arkheth (review by MMB)

Arkheth

12 Winter Moons Comes the Witches Brew

Transcending Obscurity Records

20 February 2018

Rules, regulations, restrictions and restraints can be a form of consolation when things don’t make sense and disorder rears its head. So what do you do when disorder appears as the normal way of functioning? Make the call and hook up to this clusterpiece of an album and take comfort in knowing that this postmodern abstract extreme metal will be wacky, wild and dark. The avantgarde extreme metal in this case takes the listener through adventures, instead of traditional ideas of rock songs. In fact, it might be best to take a gander at a couple of tracks and see what actually transpires within. Without even looking at the list of tracks I will here choose two and talk about them. Let’s do number three and four. Number three is called “Where Nameless Ghouls Weep.” This is eight minutes long. A wolf howl begins it and then the midtempo horror music comes on, then deranged gremlin vocals sprawl around. Expect the atmosphere of a circus of horrors the likes of which would terrify young children if they heard it (By the way, don’t play this music around young children; seriously, don’t do it. It probably qualifies as child abuse and the government authorities will have something to say about your behavior around children.). The pace of the track is midtempo and just when you think you understand it, thunder cracks and a surrealist saxophone makes its presence known. I don’t know if it is a saxophone or some other similar instrument, but this is certainly music of a twisted blurry nightmare trapped between an abyss and a hallucinogen prison.

Another track is named “The Fool Who Persists in His Folly.” The first 20 seconds is blasting drumming (programming?) with a saxophone from beyond. Things settle down to an annoying/genius repetition of a certain blob of sound. The screeching gremlin does a mad laugh. Then the speed goes up to blasting for a while and some choir of the damned is heard calling you to join a perverted cult of insanity. You won’t know whether to laugh or to scream or to throw tomatoes at your stereo boombox. You will probably curse at the music. You might cheer it on. Towards the end there is a moment in which the music sounds like cave black metal, with German-language narration. Oops, there is. The saxophone again. It’s rather beautiful, actually, the saxophone is. That’s it. That’s the end.

Come at this with your lunatic self well prepared for music that will turn you inside out. Laugh now before it’s too late for you. The people in the white coats are coming to your door right now.

arkheth.bandcamp.com