Artist: Unholy Matrimony
Title: Croire, Décroître
Type: Album
Label: Deepsend Records

This is the third release from Swiss recording project spearheaded by Vladimir Cochet, also of Mirrorthrone and Weeping Birth and while I’ve heard good things about his other projects, this is my first actual encounter with this mans music. Expecting something fairly up-tempo however, I decided this was one to upload to the MP3 player ready to accompany a good workout. Now, this wasn’t an instant album for me, i.e. the kind I can listen to once in its entirety and think ‘hell yea, there’s a kick ass album if ever I heard one!’ In fact, the first three or four times this just wasn’t sinking in much at all and I was kind of at the stage of thinking this would end up as one of those ‘going through the motions’ reviews where I attempt to be as polite as possible knowing it’s not a bad album, but ultimately I’m not feeling it. However, a bit of perseverance and a bit of work on my part to get inside the music and eventually it seemed to just click.

Cochet has certainly succeeded in creating a work that is blasphemous and unholy; well in sound at least, he could be singing the words to ‘Yes, Jesus Loves Me’ for all I understand the lyrics though that is doubtful to the extreme. Chaotic seems to be the word that keeps cropping up in my mind, with ‘D’Élégance et de Déréliction’ entering an especially disordered state sounding truly ferocious with its cold and hateful guitars and deathly drumming assault. Blastbeats are utterly relentless throughout this album, rarely offering respite and if this isn’t a drum machine then I’d be seriously impressed. J’adore the intro to ‘Rictus de Mort et de Larmes’ which kind of sounds like something bouncing through the trees in a cavernous forest before spiralling back into that unholy chaos. The tracks flow seamlessly from one into another and while a couple of the tracks clock in over the 10 minute mark, they don’t seem to drag as overall this works well as a complete piece. I’m quite sure they also sound fine as singular tracks, though it does sound better as a whole as then you get that sense of continuity.

There’s enough going on here to keep things interesting as well although things never stray too far from destructive forces that dominate here. What I do like is that there is an underlying atmosphere of foreboding that while subtle and far from overpowering, occasionally rises to the brim with some demonic chants and dark elements. While the classical influence isn’t too prevalent as on Mirrorthrone, the atmosphere does hint at it. ‘Le Glaive Contre Le Rêve’ starts off with a chant that is sinister as hell, loosely reminiscent of Metallica ‘Frayed Ends…’ intro as the horde of demons march vehemently into war. The guitars on ‘Le Poids de leur Chute les Rend Dignes’ are especially mean and scything; sharp enough to sever steel perhaps while the album comes to an end with ‘Tu ne Croiras pas’ which has quite a groove to it. This seems to fly off in a multitude of directions, never settling for very long between the rocking intro and swaggering riffs that then swings up into a vortex of chaos. You’ll find some long instrumental passages, especially as you might expect in those extra long numbers, although these never seem superfluous and “wanky.” It kind of straddles black and death, though with a far heavier emphasis on the blackness and really this is one any fan of extreme metal aught to check out. A very strong album.

http://www.myspace.com/unholymatrimony

Luci Herbert

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