Nuclear War Now! Productions, 2015
Genre: Death/Black Metal
1. Grievous Subsidence
2. Obloqui
3. Noxious Epiclesis
4. Eroding the Oblates of the Lord
5. Mendacious Psalmodia
6. The Tomb of Amaleq
7. Pain
8. The Swirling Columns of Staleness
When I heard Mefitic was finally going to get the CD treatment I was immediately excited. The fact that the songs from "Columns of Subsidence" made it onto the recordings made this an instant required purchase! Other than those two songs, Mefitic have put together an album of all new material for us to enjoy. As usual with Mefitic the artistic layout of the booklet is really interesting and one of the other aspects that makes buying the physical media well worth it.
The album opens with the stunning "Grievous Subsidence" and when those bass guitar notes hit, a haunting terror is struck into our ears. This is why I love Mefitic, however, things are a little different from the original version. The original version, somehow, managed to be even more haunting in its performance. The album version of "Grievous Subsidence" however, sounds far more menacing and crushing. The really solid production values on the album allow Mefitic to create this terrifying wall of sound. Parts are reminiscent of later Arkhon Infaustus, but where Arkhon Infaustus had some rather haunting aspects, Mefitic create this crushing wall of distortion, like sitting in a room closing in on you under the weight. G's incomprehensible and roaring vocals really seem far removed from the music making the experience all that more intimidating. They are layered in so much echo and reverb that it sounds like he's yelling from some far away dimension. With songs like "Pain" they head in an even more Arkhon Infaustus direction, but with that wonderful Mefitic twist.
I think this is really the kind of album I was hoping to get out of Mefitic. "Columns of Subsidence" left us simply wanting more, since there really aren't anyone else out there playing this style anymore. Mefitic bring a different dimension to the style that other bands didn't in the past, so Mefitic feels more like a unique blend. Being immersed in Mefitic's ultra dense and heavy atmosphere is quite the experience to behold and it's probably going to stand pretty high in my rankings at the end of 2015. Hopefully we'll see Mefitic focus more on full-length creations even if that will take them a lot more time. I think "Woes of Mortal Devotion" is a much more intense experience because of the length, whereas splits and EP's don't really help emphasize the crushing nature of Mefitic's sound and atmosphere.
Drakkar Productions, 2012
Genre: Death/Black Metal
1. Grievous Subsidence
2. The Swirling Columns of Staleness
I have some terrible news... after two years of waiting Mefitic have NOT released a full length. I know, obvious statement is obvious, but come on, I think the world will agree when I say it is well overdue at this point. At this point if it takes them five years to put together a full length I'll wait. I don't want any teasers anymore, I want a monstrous opus like the world has never experienced before and I know Mefitic can do that for us!
I think "Columns of Subsidence" finally truly nails the sound Mefitic is reaching for. I would have been happy with just what they were doing on the last split, but they have advanced things even further here. Granted I would have rather been surprised on a full length, but all they can do now is satisfy that craving I need after hearing this 7". "Grievous Subsidence" starts with just the Bass playing a very haunting section and then some whispering styled sample is played. This really sets the perfect stage for what we are about to hear. Eventually Mefitic launch into some of the darkest and most vile sounding music I've ever heard. They definitely up the ante compared to what Arkhon Infaustus was putting out towards the end of their career. While Mefitic is fairly different overall, I think the deep haunting concepts of Arkhon Infaustus definitely play an influence for this band in some way.
They've even mixed the vocals a bit more into the background so the music is much more up front and I think this really fits with the way Mefitic wants to present their art. In "The Swirling Columns of Staleness" they've even added echo on some sections giving it an extra haunting feel that just overwhelms the listener with how dense the atmosphere becomes. One of the major production changes is the ride cymbal is no longer a prominent compared to the last split, this is sort of sad to me, because it added this really weird feel to the music. The one thing I would change about this mix is turn the cymbals up a bit more, they're a little hard to hear. In the end though I think the overall mix works for what this project is trying to evoke while listening.
Since so much effort was put into the packaging I should definitely point this out. Drakkar really spared no expense with this and it is really beautiful to look at all the art. When you open up the folded sleeve of this vinyl you'll find a booklet inside. It actually reminds me of some occult pamphlet or something, telling you of this immense divine philosophy. Inside you'll find the lyrics in a really interesting layout and they have really stepped it up in the lyrics department. These are very good overall and I hope this trend continues with the band on future releases. I particularly love the line:
"Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to those who long for death?"
In the end this is truly a must have. I desperately want a full length of this. Mefitic have transformed traditional forms into some of the vilest, sinister and most haunting opuses I've ever had the pleasure to experience. Come find truth in death from the "Columns of Subsidence"!
Drakkar Productions, 2010
Genre: Death/Black Metal
Necrovomit:
1. SatAnalChrist
2. Necrophiliac Suicide
3. Nuclear Messiah
Mefitic:
4. Declaration of Misery
5. Deserts of Wounds
6. Impure Blessings (Dark Angel of the Four Wings) Demoncy Cover)
Side Necrovomit: here
Side Mefitic:
I finally managed to track down a copy of this 10" vinyl split. I really like what Mefitic is putting together, but I am getting tired of their short blips of recordings. I want a full length! Three songs of this material just isn't cutting it for me anymore. It's just ending far too shortly after it begins.
Mefitic seems to constantly be improving their sound on each release. There aren't any giant refinements, but I think they've finally got the balance between vocals and music working perfectly. Mefitic return with their fairly unique brand of Death Metal and it kicks off with the devastating "Declaration of Misery", but this song sounds a bit more traditional in it's feel. It doesn't really bear any of that extremely haunting aspects like we heard on "Signing the Servants of God". This actually nothing to complain about since the song is very well done and Mefitic show they can still play like their earlier works. However, "Deserts of Wounds" is what I really want to hear from Mefitic. It just sounds so much more sinister in it's atmosphere. The heavily breathed vocals add that haunting layer that I've been waiting for them to mix just right. Well here it is, this is essentially what I would expect to hear from this band.
So Mefitic is on it's way to producing extremely strong material. A full length can't come fast enough as far as I'm concerned. Maybe someday they'll repress all these songs on a single CD so that a wider audience can experience the development of Mefitic over the years. Now prepare yourself to experience "Deserts of Wounds"!!!
Drakkar Productions, 2009
Genre: Death/Black Metal
1. Henosis of Void
2. Execrable Precept of Ha-Melekh Ha-Goel
3. Diseased Ruth
4. Prayer to Lamashtu
5. Sepulcrum Antistitis XIII
The mighty Mefitic return with “Signing the Servants of God” and
this time we get five terrifying and incredible tracks. After their split with Goatreich 666 I had
high hopes for new Mefitic material.
They were begin to tread into some fairly original waters and I feel
that “Signing the Servants of God” is starting to capture that essence I was
expecting them to capture in the prior reviews.
“Signing the Servants of God” is unleashed by Drakkar on tape only
and limited to 666 hand-numbered copies.
I own copy 562. This is truly
unfortunate, because it is time for Mefitic to reach wider audiences with at
least one CD release. Their art is
becoming an original form and I haven’t heard anything like this before. “Signing the Servants of God” is actually the
first thing I heard by this band and I picked up the tape simply because the
cover was really interesting. You
definitely get your money’s worth from this, because their booklet is extremely
well done.
Just as we saw with “Devouring Torment” Mefitic play this very dark
and sinister brand of Death/Black Metal.
On this release I feel they’ve fully switched over to having Death Metal
as the prominent element in their sound.
The riff structuring is still basically that of a Black Metal band, but
with the guitars in such a low tuning it does have much more of an ancient
Death Metal feel. However, what they did
get out of this is they kept the Black Metal atmosphere and essence in their
sound, generating this really different sounding Death/Black Metal. If I was
forced to come up with a comparison to what this sounded like, I would say it
was akin to the later Arkhon Infaustus release: overwhelmingly heavy in both
tone and atmosphere. Arkhon Infaustus’
use of extremely dense atmosphere is what I really love about what Mefitic is
doing. This brings in the punishing
sounds as you are just crushed beneath the weight of their tone and
essence. Arkhon Infaustus sort of
generated this effect in some of their songs, but Arkhon Infaustus also played
extremely intense and fast a lot of the time. Mefitic seem to be basically
mid-paced at their fastest. They don’t
really play much slower or even skirt the realms of Doom Metal, no they stay
purely within the realms of Death and Black.
Naturally the production quality is much better than on “Devouring
Torment”, but I expected that after they put out the split. The only real production problem I have with
them this time around is the vocals are a little too high in the mix. I think they really worked out some of the problems
with the vocal work on the previous releases, but now they just need to figure
out how to mix it right. The problem
with the vocal tone is that his voice really can blend into the deep guitar
lines. It’s almost as if he’s creating
destructive interference and cancelling the guitar out once in a while!
The final verdict is that Mefitic is a must buy and must hear
band. If you want to hear bands working
on the fringe of the genre then this is a good band to hunt down. I think they are taking what Arkhon Infaustus
started and pushing that envelope just a little further. The only way I think they could push this
atmosphere further is by including some very scary Ambient effects into
sections of their songs. I’m not referring to the nice and melancholic stuff, I
refer to things like Atrium Carceri here.
That would add an extra, yet even more sinister, dimension to what they
are producing… but they’d have to hit that just right to pull off the blend. So get lost in the terrifying world of
Mefitic’s darkness!
Drakkar Productions, 2008
Genre: Black/Death Metal
Goatreich - Paintime:
1. In the Middle of Burning Churches
2. Grimhook Satan's Deathorns
Mefitic - Poisonous Transcendence:
3. Ecce Crux Domini, Fugite artes Adversae
4. Poisonous Transcendence
5. Carnal Penitence
Side Goatreich 666: here
Side Mefitic:
Mefitic have returned with this split on vinyl with fellow Italians Goatreich 666. Even though Goatreich 666 seem to have been the longer running project the only reason I got this was for the Mefitic material. I think Mefitic are far more original and interesting to listen to compared with the other band for me. The two projects are entirely different though.
Mefitic have definitely improved from the first recordings. I wouldn't say they have changed drastically, but small improvements have been made throughout. The songs seem to flow much better, so they have certainly improved as writers. Mefitic's side opens with a very eerie Ambient styled into, but then launches into very good Black/Death Metal. I'm not sure that atmosphere from the intro is maintained throughout the recording. I think this is something Mefitic is still struggling with as writers. They really want to build that heavily terrifying atmosphere, but just aren't quite there. Luckily as they search for that perfect blend we get some really well done Metal. This definitely trends darker than "Devouring Torment", which is great. They've sort of stripped out more of the Black Metal in their sound and I think they're trending towards stripping it out almost completely until just that atmosphere remains. This could wind up being an extremely good project as the continue, because this is quite different.
This is certainly produced much better than "Devouring Torment". This one is very clearly done in a studio setting and you can really hear Mefitic shine a lot more. Everything in the realm of instruments is improved and we can hear the drums quite well. I think they're still trying to figure out how to handle the vocals. I think they're a little loud in this mix. I feel like Mefitic need the vocals in the background, so it's like this haunting aspect in the background of their music. You can tell they're a little loud in these mixes because you can hear the heavier "breath" overtones in his voice. It somewhat takes away from the experience, but this is minor in the great scheme of what Mefitic have produced.
If you're looking for some extremely dark sounding Death Metal then Mefitic is the band you are looking for. There are very few bands even coming close to anything like this. I think Infinitum Obscure hits this level from time to time, but Mefitic just keep this level of sinister all the time. Again, I can't wait to hear what Mefitic have in store for us next!
Drakkar Productions, 2007
Genre: Black/Death Metal
1. Your Everlasting Rape
2. Calvaria
3. Devouring Torment
4. Hellspawn
5. The Slaughter
Mefitic is a Black/Death Metal band that comes out of Italy. I feel like they aren't as well known, probably due to the fact they've only released material on vinyl and cassette so far. Prior to this they only have a Rehearsal demo released in 2006. I honestly can't be bothered to track this down and all the songs are re-released here. I actually don't know if this is the exact same thing as the rehearsal or if they've recorded the songs in a studio. There's nothing in the liner notes concerning this information, unfortunately.
I heard a later recording of Mefitic which motivated me to pick up this earlier release to see where things began for them. I will say that this material isn't nearly as good as their later works, so keep that in mind as you read this review.
"Devouring Torment" has it's very good aspects and very bad. What Mefitic seem to be doing is playing a brand of Black/Death that is extremely atmospheric. I think they are on their way to reaching this goal, but on the first demo I feel like there is too much typical Black Metal. Usually this is the part that would be atmospheric but for Mefitic it doesn't add anything to the atmosphere. I feel like they are on the cusp of getting this to work well. For now we get a band that is experimenting with some interesting facets of the genre. They actually manage to pull of what they write on here pretty well. It doesn't sound bad or poorly arranged, but I just feel it's not as compelling as their later material.
One of the major issues with this demo is the recording quality and it may turn a lot of people off to it. There are parts of songs where the drums are extremely difficult to hear. The vocals are mixed way into the background. For the most part the guitars are right up front for the listener and this is fine. The only reason I can think this would be okay is because this is actually the rehearsal from 2006. In a small note in the booklet it says "sick abomination of the infernal winter '06", which leads me to think this is just a repress of the rehearsal. If that's the case then the production is actually pretty decent!
I can certainly understand Drakkar picking this up to release. The band definitely has serious potential and a good notion for art. The album cover for "Devouring Torment" is really awesome and giving it a professional booklet and layout was definitely worthwhile. This tape is hand-numbered, I have 605, but I have no idea what the limitation is.
In the end I think this is a fairly strong debut for the band. It's not necessarily a demo you need to rush out and hear though. It doesn't sound original enough for me to recommend as a must hear. As I said above, I think the band has a lot of potential, so we'll see where they become a must hear in the future releases. For now here's the title track for listeners to check out.
No comments:
Post a Comment