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ULTHAR
Helionomicon

20 Buck Spin (2023)
Rating: 8.5/10

Here is part two of Ulthar’s feast of frenzied strangeness. Released on the same day as the quizzical Anthronomicon, Helionomicon comes armed with just as many jagged surprises and spine-shattering jolts as its sibling.

Alongside each other this brace of albums is one vast mountain to climb, and it is one riddled with pitfalls, harsh ledges and ice cold caverns. The result being a whirlwind of apocalyptic unorthodox extreme metal that barks with a black metal vocal snap and cavorts, twists and fits musically to the point of existing as an inaccessible web of wiry tendrils which the more you combat, the more they drag you in.

The sub-genre nerds can call this technical death metal if they wish, but the sheer maniacal pride this thing takes in its own existence leaves me to question the psyche of the individuals who created such a blast. Even so, every now and then it’s nice to be utterly puzzled and spattered by such a record, even if it leaves on utterly exhausted by its fragments.

These are the sort of albums where reviews rarely do justice. Instead, one can only revel in such an orgy of seemingly wayward tentacles, each one squirming and fizzing with what could be deemed self-indulgent over-progression. However, the fact that nothing here feels forced shows the utter genius behind such walls of madness. The dry, yapping scowls actually remain the only constant here to give a sense of humanity, while everything else is an extra-terrestrial tornado of a bewildering and abrasive nature.

Unlike Anthronomicon, this masterful concoction is split into two parts; ‘Helionomicon’ and ‘Anthronomicon’, both being lengthy epileptic exultations that both mesmerize and terrify. As per my report on the striking layers of Anthronomicon, no review can do such a release justice except to say that if you want to be bombarded by bamboozling complexity and dragged backwards through a frozen thorn bush then this is the soundtrack to your twisted demise.

Neil Arnold

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