Lets face it. Symphonic metal has become oversaturated with bands that sound exactly the same… Whether they employ the Emperor style classical arrangement method or the pseudo-gothic Nightwish formula, the fact is that while it may be executed proficiently, it is rarely done so with any originality. That’s why I’ve always been drawn to the dissonance of artists on labels like Cold Meat Industry and Cold Spring. They may not be overly polished, or even that proficient at what they do, but they keep the spirit of innovation that is often lost with commercial success. Joining this pool of innovative post-metal acts is the U.S’s I Shalt Become, whose debut comfortably straddles the middle ground between Depressive Black Metal, Avant Garde and Symphonic.
You can hear the basic Burzum blueprint in the vocals and production which gives the whole sound a lo-fi and raw edge. Coupled together with some fantastic keyboard work, epic Doom riffs, and thunderous drumming it has the same feel as when Ihsahn made his first steps into classical experimentation. Only this feels like more of a whole, with each song acting like different movements within an opera or movie score, all flowing seamlessly into each other.
The outset of ‘Like a Lamb to the Slaughter…’ evokes a rousing “on the eve of battle” feeling within you with its layers of synth string sounds and tortured vocals. ‘Black Swan Events’ is a much sparser and measured atmosphere with its hanging guitars and central droning chords. ‘Harlow’s Vertical Chamber Apparatus’ continues this feeling with a slow sombre beat permeated by the synth strings mirroring the guitars. ‘No Quarter at the Somme’ sounds like it was composed while watching the old silent sepia footage from the battle and it evokes a frantic sense of panic as a result. ‘Ghosts’ is a far more minimal track dominated entirely by the classical synth sounds for a slight reprieve from the carnage before crashing back into it. ‘Leaving Watership Down’ probably isn’t suitable for rabbits… the frantic keyboard work builds the tension in the track before the thunderous eruption of the guitars back into the track before they slowly fade into a calming piano outro. ‘The Swarming of the Locusts’ hits you with full force as it thunders through a truly epic three minutes before crashing into the minimalist and almost psychedelic ‘Doubt’, which winds through six minutes of black metal guitars intertwining with a strong piano line like a nightmarish serpent. ‘The Finest Cut of the Scalpel’ is a strange track with its almost 80s fantasy movie feel to it - it could almost be played over the final battle in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. The final song, ‘Absolve Me’ makes for an epic end credits sequence with the thunderous drums over the long keyboard chords building up to a final blast to signal the albums end.
Somebody give these guys a movie to write the score for. Despite their unpolished and raw sound the band have created something that is truly astonishing. The keyboard sounds are probably only as advanced as say the first couple of Cradle of Filth albums, but they’re used so well that the lo-fi feel of the album becomes its strongest atmospheric trick. This is a band to watch.
http://www.myspace.com/ishaltbecome
