November 9, 2013

Altars - Paramnesia (2013)

First things first: listen to Paramnesia on Bandcamp.

Altars is a death metal trio from Australia.

Naturally, there's a giant comparison waiting to be made.  However, me being who I am, I'd much rather avoid that and talk about the music.

As I've mentioned elsewhere (or maybe here as well, who can remember), 2013 has seen a resurgence in quality death metal.  Sure, there are a whole bunch of mediocre albums out there in all genres, death metal being no exception.  But for the first time in a couple years, it looks like death metal will make up the majority of my year-end list.  Also, there are a couple of gigantic records coming out later this month that will muddy the water even further.

Where does Altars fit into all this?  Put simply, they've written a hell of a debut.  It's one of the great records of 2013.

What makes it great is the interplay between the musicians.  They also have a nice amount of ambition in sum.  These two things converge in third track "Khaz'neh", which displays an effective use of coordinated rhythm playing across the instruments being used.

Speaking of ambition, the title track is split into three parts, including the ten-minute finale.  The closing track and "Solar Barge" might be the slowest-growers on the album; the other tracks mostly have immediate impact. Fear not, there are rewards aplenty among them, but they only reward those with patience.

On the whole, Paramnesia is a great start.  I look forward to hearing where they go in the future.

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