Review: Qrixkuor – Zoetrope

Style: Experimental Death Metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Nile, Immolation, Blood Incantation
Review by: Andy
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: 2 December, 2022

Another day, another one-track death metal review, am I right? In my previous review, I took Abyssal’s twenty-minute experimental death metal half of their split with Tchornobog, and now I get to tackle Qrixkuor’s newest EP, Zoetrope, a twenty-four minute long, murky experimental death metal EP. That album cover alone should intrigue you as Santiago Cruso’s disturbing surrealism imaginatively comes to life. Splashes of orange at the top bathe the whole piece in a hellish glow, and the body seems to be going through some sort of ritual.

Zoetrope is the sound of this disturbing, foreign ritual, helping unveil the mystery of the album cover to mortal humans. Qrixkuor’s sound continues their long-form experimental, cavernous death metal of Poison Palinopsia, but we’re treated to ominous symphonics and a more cohesive, crescendoing structure. Everything feels like the song is leading somewhere through tactful usage of instrumental techniques where wailing chromatic solos and riffs clash with triumphant and cacophonous violin arpeggios for a spot atop the filthy low end–Zoetrope is as melodically smart as cavernous death metal gets. 

The orchestrations provide a greater gravity to the composition than the previous works of the band, really pushing forward that this sound is ritualistic. Sounding like the coronation of an undead king or perhaps the funeral rite of an eldritch god, Qrixkuor plays almost like Nile here… but darker. Suffocating, heavy riffs typical of Immolation are forced into a wholly more experimental engine–just listen to the solo at 6:00; it’s manic. Or try the frightful cello during the slower breathing sections and wonder in terror what riffs will come to pummel you next. 

Qrixkuor also completely upped their songwriting ability, especially noticeable through the drumming. D provides a pulverizing performance where the shamanic, atmospheric styles of The Ruins of Beverast suddenly burgeon into blasts that would satisfy Zach (our resident tech death nerd) for hours. 15:45 contains nebulous guitarwork that the drums push forward into riff after riff and is a satisfying explosion of darkness out of the abyssic, Abyssal-esque slower pause. Zoetrope has guitars fade in and out of existence but so subtly that every writing choice feels completely natural–the guitars just are. The only performance issue is an inaudible bass – it’s plodding away in the thick bottom blackwater. Maybe it’s like one of those huge fish in River Monsters that Jeremy Wade knows is hiding and could ruin your day it’s so massive, but tech death spoils us all with audible bass. 

Anyway, the ritual seems to be a sparagmos–a dismembering followed by omophagia–as the full track title (“Zoetrope (Psychospiritual Sparagmos)”) indicates, explaining the floating limbs in the sky. I’ll let the rest of the art be puzzled out by you since it’s as trippy and unique as the album. All these sinister machinations build Zoetrope’s sparagmos into a satisfying climax where horns swell, and the void itself belches out the horrifying Stygian soundtrack. The drumming, again, signifies the climax and every build with imperceptible increases in speed from a Worm crawl up to those blast beats in the finale. And once the song reaches its peak, the eating of its own limbs, the song collapses–the world collapses. The final howl of the wind after the metal’s dramatic exodus is the screech of a self-mutilated ghost or is the final sounds of space before a complete vacuum death. How delightful. 

Recommended tracks: Zoetrope (Psychospiritual Sparagmos) duh
You may also like: Tchornobog, Abyssal, Temple Nightshade, Ulcerate
Final verdict: 8.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page

Label: Invictus Productions – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook

Qrixkuor is:
– S (guitars, bass, vocals)
– D (drums)