Having reviewed Iconoclast by this lot in 2009, I already had some idea of what to expect here. These Australians aren’t the most prolific band having released only two full length albums in their career – Totem was originally released all the way back in 1995 as their debut album and while over the years they have put out a number of EPs and splits, they didn’t follow up proper until 14 years later. It makes perfect sense to reissue such an album, given that it came out so long ago and slipped by virtually unnoticed it seems like a good idea, unlike labels to re-release albums only a year old to milk the proverbial cash cow.
So given there was such a gap between this album and Iconoclast, it would be unfair to expect this to be quite so developed. I mean, part of the appeal of album #2 was its rabid ferocity, and Totem gives that in abundance but in a far more primitive form. This certainly has the hate-fuelled passion you’d look for in such a release and it is competently displayed from the opening ‘Totem’ which really holds no punches in its out and out ferocity – drums inexorably pound away and guitars slice through the mix as vocals are demonically barked out and sound mighty pissed off. There’s an air of menace to the likes of ‘Watching And Withering’ thanks to the oppressive sounding relentlessness of the guitars overhead, and even more so on ‘I Awaken’ which has a real sense of foreboding.
There is nothing nice about any of this and it’s really quite unpleasant in a sense. It definitely has an old school feel and there are no frills and no pretentions – truth be told it took me a few listens to really get into this as it is so full on in its ferocity that you need to give it time to let its subtleties and nuances come to the fore. The more I hear the album the more it seems to grow on me in fact – tracks like ‘Vermis Mysteriis’ on first listen sound a little clumsy but in places there is a dark atmosphere that shines through between the furore. There is nothing smooth-going about this album and it definitely is lacking the maturity of Iconoclast but it does have its charm. At times things rattle ahead like a slightly rusted up circular saw that has worked its way loose creating a sense of chaos and I’m reminded a bit of early Mayhem at times.
This is one raw, nasty and aggressive little beast of an album. It is far more stripped down than Iconoclast, and if you are after something with high production values then you might want to stay clear. Worth checking out.
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