Style: Avant Garde Classical Mathcore, Jazz, Djent (Mixed Vocals)
Review by: Mathis
Country: United States
Release date: 18 October, 2021
Yep, you read that right! Avant Garde Classical Mathcore, the most accurate way to describe Peculate’s new album Your Own Personal Abyss. The crazy thing is, I don’t think that fully encompasses all of the styles in this album. Jazz fusion, djent, and grindcore are all littered throughout the album, and there is still more to be discovered! Like a stray onion ring in your box of fries, you might unexpectedly find some techno synth and hip-hop beats.
Your Own Personal Abyss is a concept album about life under techno-feudalism. The album explores the idea that business has taken over our lives. All we do is work and it hardly benefits the individual, yet our culture encourages slavery to large corporations. The lyrics prompt the listener to break away from working life away sitting at a screen all day. The overall tone of the album is gloomy, and it does a great job of expressing that gloom in an unconventional way.
Unlike a traditional mathcore band, Your Own Personal Abyss opens with a beautiful yet unnerving string quartet at the start of “A Safe Space to Rot”. Forty seconds later as you’re getting used to the violins and cello you are blasted with two screams in unison, a chaotic yell and a guttural low. The yelling makes up the majority of the harsh vocals, they are violent but still somewhat clear, reminding me of what Jon Mess of Dance Gavin Dance. A soft clean vocal section follows, and if you were hoping for some relief with the clean vocals then you are screwed. They are so flat and monotone it’s unsettling, like there is no emotion at all, and the lyrical themes and piano work don’t help either. Honestly, this whole album is depressing, but still so intriguing because it isn’t typical by any standard. Oh, and one more thing, it freaking djents too. Such a strange, yet satisfying composition.
At points the mathcore verges on grindcore, becoming a noisy amalgamation of blast beats and stringed instruments like in the first minute of “Customer Communion”. There is constantly something nuts happening in Your Own Personal Abyss and it may seem a little busy, but Peculate creates an illusion of space by going absolutely bonkers with the grindy parts and then slowing it down with a chonker of a riff that repeats like something you would hear from Meshuggah or Textures. In addition to this there are a few softer tracks that drop the metal altogether. “One Size Fits All Prescription” is a dark ambient/psybient track with a hip-hop style drum machine and the creepy soft vocals I mentioned earlier. There are also a few jazzy and classical instrumental tracks that contrast the heavier, louder, and more violent songs.
Your Own Personal Abyss only has a few drawbacks, the most major being its length. The album clocks in at fifty nine minutes, which in itself is long, but seems much longer considering how niche it is. It’s especially exhausting if you aren’t familiar with its style and genre, but if you are into mathcore and avant garde, then it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. The heavy songs that make up the majority of the album don’t have a ton of variation from track to track which can also make the experience feel a bit elongated and convoluted.
Peculate’s Your Own Personal Abyss is a dark and heavy album, but not like you would expect from a mathcore, death metal, or doom metal band. The concept of the album is not super unique, but certainly relevant. What really makes the album stand out from its gloomy counterparts is the choice of instrumentation and composition. Peculate employs multiple styles to evoke a sense of dread with instruments one might normally find peaceful, which makes it all the more chilling and fascinating. While it may run long, if you are looking for something new, or are in the mood for some morbid music on a rainy day, I would definitely recommend Your Own Personal Abyss.
Recommended tracks: A Safe Space to Rot, Bury the False God
Recommended for fans of: The Red Chord, The Number Twelve Looks Like You
You may also like: The Sound That Ends Creation
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Spotify | Facebook | Bandcamp | Youtube | Official Website
Label: Independent
Peculate is:
Ben Norton (Everything)
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