Style: avant-garde black/death metal (mixed vocals)
Review by: Sam
Country: Argentina/Belgium/Brazil
Release date: 23 January, 2021
Avant-garde metal is a very hit-or-miss genre for me. It’s hard to strike a balance between left-field eclecticism and more conventional songwriting when the entire point of the genre is to be different and pushing boundaries. Bands that go very far into the crazy are just hard to follow for me because it frequently comes across as an artistic endeavor rather than something made for the listener (e.g. Maladie’s album The Grand Aversion from last year). On the other hand, bands that play it too safe tend to come across as watered down versions of their base genre that try to compensate their lack of ability with a gimmick (see: early Solefald or early Sigh). However, whenever a band manages to strike a balance between the two, magic surely follows.
Maelström is an album that is decidedly more on the conventional end of the spectrum. The bulk of this album is centered around a wall of sound type black metal assault with occasional death metal elements thrown in to crank up the heaviness. I’ve seen other reviewers call it dissonant, but I’ve no knowledge of that sub-style so I’ll leave it to a small mention. Though I must say I can hear some similarities to what Icelandic black metal I’ve heard, which is also said to be inspired by dissonant black/death metal, so I suppose that confirms it.
In any case, the atmosphere on this album is very oppressive. The riffs are very dark and heavy on the ear thanks to the plentiful down-tuning and distortion on them, and the constant drum machine blasting really pounds it in you. The vocals also play their part in the oppressiveness with their ghastly shrieking that sounds like it echoes to the entrance from the depths of a cave. It’s truly evil stuff. And as if that wasn’t enough, they also frequently pummel you with very down-tuned death metal-ish riffs to just hammer home that there’s really no fun allowed here.
But this is avant-garde, no? What makes it different? Well they often use electronic music elements to enhance the atmosphere, including some breakcore stuff that reminds of Igorrr. There are some delicious lighter parts on this that provide a nice contrast to the oppressiveness. The song “Obra Dinn” is an excellent example of this with its dream-like atmospheric sections thanks to the combination of electronic soundscapes and harmonious black metal parts. In “Adamaster” they also throw in an accordion. All the unconventional instrument choices are incorporated so naturally on this album I almost forgot about the avant-garde tag. Even the more left-field passages never break up the flow of the music.
I do have some qualms with this though. The drum machine often sounds very lifeless with its constant blasting, making the extreme parts sound really similar over the course of the album. In the quieter parts they do a better job, but it’s still a far cry from a real drummer. It hence plays a big part in the oppressive atmosphere becoming overwhelming in the second half of the album. In the first half it’s balanced better with breather sections. When the death metal riffs in “Dark Corners of the Ocean” come rolling around, I notice myself zoning out each time mentally over ear-fatigue. That could also just be the inner vvimp in me speaking though. I imagine those who are more into extreme metal than I am won’t find this as problematic as I did. The guitarwork is pretty varied after all, bringing both good melodic playing, as well as great riffs (this album features the person behind IER after all, whom you might remember from Dylan’s 2020 album of the year pick).
Overall though, I can easily recommend this album. There is lots of good songwriting, and a good portion of left-field stylings to give this a unique flavor. I’m not so sure about this album’s constant extremity metal-wise, but as far as avant-garde is concerned Thermohaline know their shit. One thing’s for sure though, and that is that Maelström lives up to its name: an inescapable vortex of music that will drawn you in and crush you.
Recommended tracks: Obra Dinn, Adamaster, Shipwrecked
Recommended for fans of: Esoctrillihum, IER, Icelandic black metal, dissonant things
Final verdict: 6.66/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Thermohaline is:
– Lennart Janssen (various instruments)
– Nuno Lourenço (various instruments)
– Ignacio Elias Rosner (various instruments)
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