Riff mark: 1:09
Grand declaration of something, all right. Maybe the most
wayward, ADHD-driven black metal recording I’ve heard since an Abruptum single.
The ideas are plentiful and barely contained, exploding leftward in clusters of
supernova riffs, which are segmented by some really large energy-sucking black
holes, big enough to ruin fucking everything. How far do these event horizons
stretch? At one point (and I had to verify my copy with a recording on Youtube
just to make sure my CD wasn’t screwed) there’s five minutes of complete
recorded silence. It’s not a space for an impending bonus track; this deliberation spans two
songs. This isn’t meditative; it’s insulting, but nowhere as much to the purist
fanbase as the trip-hop track carelessly plopped in the middle of everything
(it’s tremendously bad, both here and as standalone trip-hop). More stylistic
mishaps: WAY too much “drummer boy in civil war” snare rolling. Vocalist Maniac…fuck
it, just listen to the guy. Half of the time he’s doing this this quasi-aggressive
commander/preacher deal that comically sounds like David Byrne (I’ve actually
read the David Byrne comparison from more than one critic, but it’s true. Hey,
while on topic, why not listen to Talking Heads? Nothing but great albums and songs.
One of my all-time favorites. Be a Talking Metalhead). There’s so much shit to
sift through just to enjoy anything on Grand
Declaration of War, its schizophrenic sandblasters minutes apart for
seconds at a time. A real black metal blue-ball. Worth a spin for Hellhammer’s
inhuman drumfest (sans parrrr-rum pum pum pum).
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