Indesinence
Ecstatic Lethargy
~reviewed by Matthew Heilman
This incredibly dark Doom outfit definitely provided this reviewer with a much-needed dose of sincere musical evil – without all the worn out imagery and clichéd musical accoutrements. This is the real deal. Allow me to quote from the band’s website:
“In an age where either retro-fixation or contrived cross-pollination and experimentation seem to be the only two paths to choose from; the only concern of Indesinence is how much darker, heavier and intense its uncompromising musical attack can become.”Amen brothers. Indesinence hail from London, and this is the band’s first official release if I am not mistaken and I hope to hell it’s not their last and they continue churning out music of this supreme quality. Theirs is a raw and uncompromisingly dense sound, with the sinister, detached atmosphere of funereal Doom metal shaken and stirred by brief and appropriate bursts of traditional Death metal confrontation. The vocals are truly monstrous and creepy – unlike the usual brand of cookie-cutter death metal growls. It’s as if this guy is truly channeling some unholy, restless, raging spirit. The verses are well placed and usually broken by long instrumental periods, giving the vocals time to breathe and preventing them from wearing too thin on the listener. They appear unexpectedly, and produce a more jarring and unsettling effect. The same techniques of countless other bands are used here, however these techniques are used effectively by Indesinence, to create a monumental and intimidating release.
Like most Doom Metal bands, Indesinence’s music is multi-textured, with layers of deep resonant guitar chords crunching at the core while spidery guitar riffing and bits of eerie melody characterize the lead guitar sections. The occasional murky arpeggios work their way in, but Indesinence seem to exercise a proper and intelligent restraint with their ideas, and never wear out too much of a good thing. Though Doom to the core, in that the band never once betrays even the slightest glimpse of light-heartedness, they do stir things up with a few well-timed blast beats and bursts of galloping speed, rather than constantly relying on a sluggish dirge-like pace. As a result, these faster parts sound succeed in sustaining a remarkably dark and gloomy mood, and these contrasts only enhance the slower passages.
“Ecstatic Lethargy” is really just two tracks, as the first track is merely an eerie 50-second intro comprised of a warm synth drone and chimes – which marks the only appearance of synths on the entire EP, proving that keyboards are not the only instrument capable of creating atmosphere for a band. In fact, I would say that Indesinence’s contributions to the genre are among the most unique and being that this release is so emotionally suffocating and oppressive, it has an even more distinct atmosphere than most synth heavy releases that wind up sounding sappy and overdramatic.
Indesinence was a pleasant surprise, and a welcome addition to my Doom Metal collection. These two tracks alone (both clocking in at over ten minutes each) perfectly demonstrate the kind of power that dark music should possess – the ability to make the listener shudder in horrific fascination. Highly recommended for fans of truly heavy and dark music.
Track List:
1.) Gempiternal Vortex
2.) Catalepsy
3.) Aura
Indesinence is:
Ilia – guitars, vocals
Chris James - guitars
John Wright – bass
Dani – drums
Indesinence – Official Website:
http://users.0800dial.com/seraph/main.html
Band Contact: (YES, Contact them – buy
this EP!)
Indesinence@hotmail.com
05/10/03