the NULLL Collective

.: THE NULLL COLLECTIVE Review :.

This is what you might call Extreme Death Doom. Indeed, if there were such a thing, I'd call this 'Traditional Extreme Death Doom'. It harks back to the less progressive times of early Evoken and Esoteric. It's blunt, no messing about, it's simple in contruction and effective in delivery. Like those early extreme albums, 'De Monstris' takes the more brutal approach to creating depression.

This is in general ultra slow, semi ambient, swaves of dark synths and grim death throe vocal growl, more in pain than anything else. In amongst the acoustic cathedral caves and cerimonial drones, there are faster galloping blacker metal moments. Overall it's very heavy, crushing, suffocating, and very, very dark.

The opener 'Exocation of the Void-Self' a familiar masterpiece.

'Repulsugoid Part 1' is a container for those Black Metal rants I was talking about, but mixed superbly with extereme Death Doom. If the opener was a 10/10 track, then so is this, but it's very different.

'Divine Skin' is just pure majesty and another 10/10er. It's like a million angels beating out your funeral march and weeping for what awaits you.

'Repulsugloid Part 2' continues the experimental blending of Black Metal and Death Doom. Think Panzer Division Marduk at quarter speed accompanaied by Esoteric. It's a brilliant concept, but it's under 2 minutes long which gives the impression that it's unfinished or even a friviloity, bringing part 1 into disrepute. I think this part 2 is a logical conclusion to part one, it just needs a piece of music to join it up, then it wouldn't need to be in 2 parts.

'Feed the Whore', is a real disappointment after the excellence of the 1st three tracks. It's ruined by a less than virtuosso Rick Wakeman sounding "Gone, gone, are the days of the Knights'-style tapping-out of the melody on the synth in a high octive that has no buisness on this album. That synth is a bit like someone whistling along to your favourite music. He may think it's great and he may think you really want to hear him doing it, but you don't. Unfortunately you can't ignore it. What makes it worse is that this is a 17 minutes long composition that must have taken so much effort to create. Maybe it's just me getting a bee in my bonnet about it, but purely from my perspective, it could have been a phenomenal track.

The album finishes on a high, so high that I'm forced to re-evaluate what I mean by 10/10. It's a cover of Silent Night, the famous Christian Cristmas song. It's another 10/10er that may well be one of the greatest songs you'll ever hear.

So, raves from the graves, giving it some old school. With the exception of 'Feed the Whore', this is up there with the founding fathers.

9/10

Original version as it appeared on Born In Blood forums

Collective member pages : EMH - SPW - SVC.
Collective manifesto - Press.
Music by the NULLL Collective (freely downloadable).



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		.: THE NULLL COLLECTIVE Review :. This is what you might call Extreme Death Doom. Indeed, if there were such a thing, I'd call this 'Traditional Extreme Death Doom'. It harks back to the less progressive times of early Evoken and Esoteric. It's blunt, no messing about, it's simple in contruction and effective in delivery. Like those early extreme albums, 'De Monstris' takes the more brutal approach to creating depression. This is in general ultra slow, semi ambient, swaves of dark synths and grim death throe vocal growl, more in pain than anything else. In amongst the acoustic cathedral caves and cerimonial drones, there are faster galloping blacker metal moments. Overall it's very heavy, crushing, suffocating, and very, very dark. The opener 'Exocation of the Void-Self' a familiar masterpiece. 'Repulsugoid Part 1' is a container for those Black Metal rants I was talking about, but mixed superbly with extereme Death Doom. If the opener was a 10/10 track, then so is this, but it's very different. 'Divine Skin' is just pure majesty and another 10/10er. It's like a million angels beating out your funeral march and weeping for what awaits you. 'Repulsugloid Part 2' continues the experimental blending of Black Metal and Death Doom. Think Panzer Division Marduk at quarter speed accompanaied by Esoteric. It's a brilliant concept, but it's under 2 minutes long which gives the impression that it's unfinished or even a friviloity, bringing part 1 into disrepute. I think this part 2 is a logical conclusion to part one, it just needs a piece of music to join it up, then it wouldn't need to be in 2 parts. 'Feed the Whore', is a real disappointment after the excellence of the 1st three tracks. It's ruined by a less than virtuosso Rick Wakeman sounding "Gone, gone, are the days of the Knights'-style tapping-out of the melody on the synth in a high octive that has no buisness on this album. That synth is a bit like someone whistling along to your favourite music. He may think it's great and he may think you really want to hear him doing it, but you don't. Unfortunately you can't ignore it. What makes it worse is that this is a 17 minutes long composition that must have taken so much effort to create. Maybe it's just me getting a bee in my bonnet about it, but purely from my perspective, it could have been a phenomenal track. The album finishes on a high, so high that I'm forced to re-evaluate what I mean by 10/10. It's a cover of Silent Night, the famous Christian Cristmas song. It's another 10/10er that may well be one of the greatest songs you'll ever hear. So, raves from the graves, giving it some old school. With the exception of 'Feed the Whore', this is up there with the founding fathers. 9/10 Original version as it appeared on Born In Blood forums Collective member pages : EMH - SPW - SVC. Collective manifesto - Press. Music by the NULLL Collective (freely downloadable).