Lódz has been called the “Polish Manchester”. It’s also the residence of Black Metal bands Deep Desolation, Primal and Iugulatus, who share the stage on the split “Chapel of Fear”. In style, these bands aren’t a million miles apart but its Deep Desolation and their album “Subliminal Visions” which interest us most here.
“As grim as hell” would be one way to describe “Subliminal Visions”. The dark encroachment hits us from the beginning. This is Black Metal of the creepy and relentless old-school style. The dead-pan rhythm is designed to numb the senses. Yet there are great subtleties within the guitar work. I hesitate to use the word “flamboyant” but from “Call of the Abyss” onwards it is evident that a lot of careful thought has gone into the musical progression and creation of an all-embracing Black sound. It can be quite mechanical and militaristic too. What’s unusual about it is that the music will frequently be melodic but equally it will be mixed with psychedelic insertions. The vocals are as you would expect: violent croakings, bordering on death and resonating of suffering and destruction. With track titles like “Mass Murderer’s Ejaculation”, “Christ’s Incest” and “Infernal Hallucinations”, it was hardly going to be happy-clappy. “Murderous Lust” sees the drummer knocking out a punchy beat, there’s an anarchic element but there’s some melody too. It’s the combinations which make this intriguing and more acceptable listening than you might expect. Screams set us on our way on “Mass Murderer’s Ejaculation” and its foul-stenching lyrics. The drummer sets out a muddy beat. The guitars defiantly punch their way through this hate sermon.
The excellent track “Subliminal Visions” is like a march to a place we probably don’t want to go to. It’s not slow as to be doomy but capturing the Deep Desolation sound as a whole, it plods on imperiously and powerfully with the guitars supplying an extra layer of menace and dark decoration. Like Malsain and indeed “Satanic Orgy” on the split album, the track progresses in a sinister way, but also in a way which is enjoyable. There’s even an exotic Eastern sounding passage mixed into the grimness. The band don’t stand still. “Subliminal Visions” is followed up with the 11 minute “Christ’s incest”. Painfully drawn out, a sense of struggle is what comes across most. Psychosis and nightmares seem to be the vision. The creepiness and strength of a Mayhem track are enhanced by constant twists, added as poisonous flavouring. And yet there’s still a sense of progress and there’s even a majestic quality. We’re on the march again with “Infernal Hallucinations” The steady progressions remind me of Runemagick but the brilliant guitar intricacies are nothing but Black Metal. The march is on but it’s not in such a straight line as it seems. It’s interesting and psychedelic on places. To reinforce the mental torture, the sense created is as if we are heading towards the abyss. The music is fluid but in the sense of a saw cutting through wood. It’s easy to be swept along though. The moving rhythm can be felt on “In the Mouth of Madness” but the flow is broken by another of those psychedelic guitar passages. We’re not going to get away with it that easily. “Everlasting War” captures the sound of creeping death. More shadowy in its atmosphere, we hear the echoes. The guitar speaks. Psychedelic chaos reigns supreme. The relentless rhythm continues, but with the distant and terrifying sounds of moaning. It’s deeply disturbing and atmospheric.
The “Chapel of Fear” split manifests still further the special type of harsh grimness that the Poles specialise in. Although I appreciated the distorted Black Metal melancholy and the scary chimes of “Nadczlowiek”, the first track, and the swirling intensity of the one man outfit Primal, overall I found it so harsh and shapeless as to be distinctly heavy going. I guess this is the point. I found more purpose and imagination in the three tracks of Iugulatus, who for some reason reminded me of an upbeat and palatable version of the Polish stalwarts Christ Agony. Unlike Primal, I found there was something to hang on to here as it progressed, especially on “Gates of Abyss”. But it was good to get back to the by now familiar Hendrix-style psychedelia of Deep Desolation, the slow growls and the relentless and persistent agony. The track “Chapel of Fear” has a more doomy edge than “Subliminal Visions” and deliberately shies away from rising to any heights. This wouldn’t do. “Satanic Orgy captures all that is good about this band. Any band that can blend the opposites of creepiness, gloomy melodies and plodding catchiness in a totally dark way and do it seamlessly has quality. Deep Desolation do just that.
I’d never heard of Deep Desolation before but I realise now that this a Black Metal band with depth and subtlety. It’s evident that its band members are excellent musicians who know how to create the darkest of moods, psychedelic atmospheres and militaristic moments in a melodic and groove-laden way without compromising their disease-ridden message. Black Metal has received a fresh, evil-coloured coat of paint. It’s brilliant. I am grateful for the discovery of Deep Desolation.
www.myspace.com/deepdesolationband
https://www.myspace.com/iugulatus
Andrew Doherty
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