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HORRENDOUS
Ontological Mysterium

Season Of Mist (2023)
Rating: 9/10

Since 2009 this American death metal act has evolved mixing a myriad of extreme metal styles ranging from old school death metal, progressive death metal, blackened death metal and technical thrash. The flickers and flashes continue here with another innovative and creative release that comes armed with a multitude of layers.

Give this fifth album from the band time because there is a lot to take in here from speeding riffs, dark emotive passages, a haunting atmosphere, flecks of Death and strains of Voivod, but also strands of a bewildering uniqueness which somewhat paints a lonely picture of these masterful musicians, perched high upon a mountain that so many cannot reach.

Through the years Horrendous has constructed a discography that many bands can only dream of and with Ontological Mysterium they’ve distanced themselves even further. Glinting with spikes of melody and dissonance, this opus meanders down avenues all too tricky at times for us mortal listeners. Obviously the track titles are as equally intricate; ‘Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology Of Dawn)’, ‘Aurora Neoterica’, ‘Cult Of Shaad’oah’ and the title track befuddle with their wordage and their music as those jabbing drums punch into the complex lanes crafted by the extraordinary bass lines reminding one of Atheist, even Cynic.

The vocal snaps are probably the only feature here that you can grasp immediately because they have that raspy, spitting vibe, but everything else offered can appear at first bamboozling, especially when the clan experiment with jazzier, progressive flips such as on Aurora Neoterica’. Acoustic guitar, flutes, swirling cosmic oddness, it’s all here as evidence on ‘Preterition Hymn’.

The album is riddled with unconventional solos that are very apparent on ‘Exeg(en)esis’ and the epic finale of ‘The Death Knell Ringeth’, which is arguably the best moment of the record. The way the track builds on a foundation of tumbling drums and the sniping vocals reminds me of Mayhem circa the arrogant Grand Declaration Of War (2000), and yet for all its horror and drama ‘The Death Knell Ringeth’ is far from being aggressive and assumes a steady groove with whichever direction it takes before resorting a tech thrash chug littered with spiralling leads. It’s a fine way to finish off a staggering outing that mocks you as it ties your membranes into knots while shredding your ears.

A class above, Horrendous have become elite architects of anomalous extreme metal and I don’t see anyone else coming close to their brand.

Neil Arnold

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