Artist: The Bridal Procession
Title: Astronomical Dimensions
Type: Album
Label: SOAR
The description made this album sound promising. After the majestic intro, the mood turns ugly and we got what we had come for; a sudden bout of bludgeoning Death Metal with symphonic pieces. The guitars on “Flesh to Flesh” ring out like machine guns. Rampaging technicality abounds, and the vocalist will need throat lozenges. The whole air is of nihilism and destruction. It’s not for nothing that The Bridal Procession, who incidentally are French, are compared to Polish Death Metal warmongers. After the roar to mark the start of “Shroud of the End”, we enter another dimension of lingering keys, more screams and Dimmu-style dramatics. The urgency of delivery recalls Vader. Here is a top quality example of symphonic Blackened Death Metal. “Atypical Pestilence” continues the mood. It’s a Death diatribe with a creepy air, powerfully and persistently conveying a sense of extreme unpleasantness.
The album takes a different an interesting direction with the title track “Astronomical Dimensions”. The album never resorts to unmitigated violence yet threatens it. Here the beginning is acoustic with sad orchestral tones. The mood darkens and then the combination of acoustic and flailing guitars together with the underplayed orchestral element bring a sense of something nasty in the air. The sense of struggle continues on “Pillage the Scavenger”. This is technical Death Metal at its best, and there’s space too for a majestic guitar solo. “Diminishing Lungs” is more technical Death Metal amid the by now familiar punishing brutality and sense of foreboding. It descends into chaos. By contrast the next track “Obsolete Machines” starts mystically but there’s still the sense of something big rising from the ashes. The vocalist is as harsh as ever. The drummer leads the march of brutality. It’s not the first thing you think of but there is melody as well as majesty in there. It just hangs together in a violent and sinister way. The finale comes with “Patrons of Humanity”, another brutal Death Metal blast with typical technical and orchestral twists. Towards the end there’s a real hooky acoustic line thrown in. That’s great but what is mostly left in our minds is the memory of Death Metal played out forcefully in a filthy blackened atmosphere.
The Bridal Procession have played in the UK, and having heard this album, I am sorry to have missed them. This is an interesting band, one which knows how to reflect their vision of a crumbling society in music. Overpowering Death Metal combines with Black Orchestral Metal to generate controlled fury, anger and a strong sense of universal chaos. “Astronomical Dimensions” is a thoroughly dark and impressive album.
http://www.myspace.com/thebridalprocession
http://www.siegeofamida.net
