Esoteric

By Júlio Valada on Oct 31, 2011 in Cd Review | 0 comments

Album: Paragon of Dissonance
Label: Season Of Mist
Tracks: 7
Release Date: November 11th
Lenght: 94′ 00″

Riff Score: 9.5/10

Esoteric are back and presenting their newest album, Paragon Of Dissonance. Once again the British band goes for a double disc format, the same that brought them so much praise in the past. Their new album is a dark and monstrous ride into the deepest corners of the mind and a challenging experience to undertake.

I’ve been trying to start listening to Esoteric for over a year now as I’m a fan of doom in general, and in particular the funeral doom variant since a couple of years back. But when you have a band whose most recommended album is a two disc behemoth with nine songs and two hours long, you get to think twice and sometimes more before you start listening to them. As such I’ve been postponing listening to The Pernicious Enigma for a while now. The arrival of their newest album has infused me with a will to finally give the band a serious chance, and with such a tempestuous Autumn as it is now I can only say that the timing is quite appropriate.

This is one of those genres where I present some difficulty writing about; at least in technical and musical terms since funeral doom is renowned for its slowness and repetitiveness. It’s easier to approach and write about this genre by depicting its imagery and the emotions it brings to the listener. Personally I find it to be a very interesting sub-genre, despite being one of the hardest forms of music to enjoy and appreciate, and as most doom it’s a very moody form of music. Nevertheless there are points in life where I absolutely adore indulging myself in the hypnotic rhythms and darkened atmosphere of such albums. Esoteric are one of the biggest names on the scene and one of the precursors of it, together with other names like Evoken or Skepticism. The first rooted themselves in the dark and asphyxiating lines of Winter, evolving into a unique entity, while the second rose like a phoenix after the demise of underground legends Thergothon, transforming themselves in one of the most renowned bands of the genre and leaders of the Finnish doom scene.

Esoteric on the other hand are rooted in the British doom scene, known for its melodic and sometimes more romantic approach to the genre. This can be witnessed throughout this entire album as it sounds very British. Indicative moments of this can be found from the beginning of the album, with its 14 minute monstrous opener “Abandonment”, which is one of the most daunting pieces of music I’ve hear in a while, filled with lavishing guitar work and a main riff that’s absolutely destructive. The weight of the drums is so much that you feel like you’re going to cave in to them, when all of a sudden the song shifts into an ambient clean section near the 7 minute mark, with just the guitar holding off the melody. This section reminds me a lot of the latest Ahab album in its melodic approach and the build up that begins to take form is nothing short of extraordinary, leaving you holding on until the last moment where it just explodes into its emotional and brutal apex. I can seriously reaffirm that with an opener like this Paragon Of Dissonance has to be heard!

The British show continues with the funereal march that opens and leads along the next song “Loss Of Will”, one of the two smaller tracks here together with “Cipher”. These two avert a bit from the typical wall of sound present on the longer songs and instead prefer to hit the listener with a more direct and pungent approach, with the later presenting us again with some flashy guitar work and the horrifying vocal work of Greg Chandler. What follows afterwards is a seamless piece of music divided into four acts, as there is still more than one hour left on this album. The awesome “Non Being” starts this doom opera by stealing the show with its spacey distorted guitars that suddenly burst into this amazing lead that finally calls the shadows back to encompass all existence. This is one of the highlights on the album which together with the opener “Abandonment” and “Disconsolate” from the second disc form a power trio of songs that will leave any doom fan in awe.

The band really excels on the longer tracks and the first disc ends up serving as the perfect appetizer for the main course and real meal that is the second disc. This is where Esoteric show their true genius and where I end up drowning within the immenseness that is their music. This second disc melds itself with the aforementioned “Non Being” into one giant rollercoaster through the darkest reaches of your imagination, leaving you nothing short of emotionally and physically drained. The production really helps the band to achieve their goal here as it is simply perfect. I wouldn’t change anything as every drum struck is felt as a direct hit on your soul, the lower end is rich with fullness and the guitars have a tone that’s incredible. Always rich in caressing melodies as much as in claustrophobic riffs, they explode with every build up and every lead presented here.

Paragon Of Dissonance is literally another gigantic effort by the band, spanning over two discs and 94 minutes of funeral dirges and slowed to a crawl, British-style death/doom. The atmosphere is rich and at points totally overwhelming, leaving you on an astral path to the darkest reaches of your imagination, or just wandering around through what was, is and will be your life. This is much more than a doom album, this is an amazing experience that isn’t for the faint hearted as such ride would prove too overwhelming for them. It’s a beautiful yet haunting piece of art in musical form that touches you in all the right places and screams at you for forgiveness, an emotional steamroller that tramples your every mundane thought and brings you down into a state of catatonic flirtation with your inner demons. Scary at points but imbued with such beauty that it’s hard to let go, this is an album that glues itself and melds into your soul and as such becomes a part of who you are. This is a true work of art and a serious contender for album of the year. Welcome Esoteric, I’ve been longing for you…

By: Júlio Valada