Style: Avant-Garde Black Metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Bathory
Review by: Cooper
Country: Brazil
Release date: 20 July, 2022
This review is best enjoyed when read in conjunction with my review of Pariah. Find that review here.
Coming out just over a month after the release of the beastly Pariah, SALQIU’s most recent album The Colossal Weight of My Illusion… had some crater-sized footprints to fill. Avowed as Pariah’s “distorted, vicious, and bold mirror reflection”, does TCWoMI have what it takes to compare to its glorious predecessor and in turn stand on its own, or does it fall flat in the pit of overblown expectations?
The album’s opener “… Will Throw Me in Abyssal Disillusion” (neatly completing the sentence started in the album’s name) begins with all guns blazing. Not a moment is wasted before the listener is struck with a kick to the head of everything SALQIU has to offer. In the bombardment, you’ll catch glimpses of what is to come, be it a squealing saxophone or trumpet, the din of the guitars that sound as though they are submerged in tar, or SALQIU’s signature hissed, multi-tracked vocals, but if you listened to Pariah recently, you’ll be bound to notice something more as well: the production quality. It’s true! This album actually has a mix, remedying one of my only nitpicks with Pariah. And while still certainly nowhere near what any sane man would call a polished production, TCWoMI’s mix has a certain edge to it that was entirely lacking on its predecessor, giving each instrument just the bit of definition that they so desperately need in such chaotic music. The experienced listener will also notice more differences, primarily the presence of piano. While not exactly new to the black metal formula that SALQIU employs, it is certainly welcome as another tool for the band’s experimentation with atmosphere and genre-melding.
As the album continues, TCWoMI’s self-professed role as Pariah’s “bold mirror reflection” only becomes more apparent. Whether it be through song titles, guitar riffs, lyrical themes, song structures, or folk instrumentation, TCWoMI is constantly referencing back to the work done on Pariah. If you listened to Pariah and enjoyed SALQIU’s raw take on black metal you will surely enjoy this new release. I would recommend listening to both since they complement one another so well. Listening to these two albums together, while giving both appropriate time to truly be digested, is a genuine treat that all fans of progressive black metal should enjoy.
Despite all these similarities to Pariah, some cracks do begin to reveal themselves when treating TCWoMI as a standalone project. First off, there are some strange songwriting and production choices throughout the album that utterly shatter the atmosphere that the rest of the album otherwise works so hard to create. For example, there are occasional spoken word sections throughout the album, often set to beautiful piano and string melodies, that would be downright dripping in macabre if it weren’t for the harsh noise gate effect on the vocal audio. The start and end of each phrase are so clearly digitally clipped that the atmosphere simply pops like a bubble upon hearing it. The clipping is so apparent, in fact, that I am certain it was intentional, making the issue that much more perplexing. Other issues are equally puzzling. For instance, multiple points on the album entirely lack a buildup between the calmer piano and folk sections and the pounding black metal distortion. The sections seem as if they were stuck together for the sake of creating a diverse song as opposed to a coherent one. If these choices were meant to be intentionally jarring, they certainly succeed, but I simply do not like the effects they have on the album’s flow and atmosphere.
TCWoMI is an interesting position, meant to be heard within the context of Pariah and certainly elevated by that association yet still lacking as a standalone album that never once nears the highs achieved by its predecessor. Where Pariah had songs in varying length with climaxes placed specifically throughout the album to generate and release tension over the course of a full listen, TCWoMI plays more like a compilation album, lacking a coherent flow or through-line. Each song is solid in their own right but they lack the cohesiveness that allows an album to truly rise above its competition. Nonetheless, SALQIU’s base quality is still quite good, and I wholeheartedly recommend listening to both Pariah and The Colossal Weight of My Illusion…. And despite some missteps on this most recent release, I still eagerly look forward to what the ever prolific SALQIU will release next.
Recommended tracks: Pariah II, …And the Devil Keeps on Playing Jazz
You may also like: Wreche, Christian Cosentino, IER, Thermohaline
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
SALQIU is:
– Nuno Lourenço (All instruments, Vocals, Programming, Lyrics)
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