Supuration are a band who have inhabited the French death metal scene for quite some time. In fact, they started out way back in 1989 as Esticoxe before deciding to change monicker, and eventually releasing their debut in 1993. One hiatus later and then it was time for album numéro deux, 2003’s ‘Incubation’. Some further reading reveals that both of these records centred around suicide. (If you haven’t already seen it, I would suggest checking out the bizarre cover of ‘Incubation’ to try and guess where that one’s coming from.) Aside from Supuration, it is important to mention that the members have also been active in their more left field guise of S.U.P. since 1995 – hence the ten year gap between albums. So, veterans of the death metal genre, and beyond…
Marking yet another ten years between albums (deliberate, maybe?), 2013 sees the release of this, ‘CU3E’. Bearing in mind that the twenty-year-old debut was called ‘The Cube’, it seems like that unifying conceptual thread of suicide may well continue here. With just song titles to go on though, it’s hard to say for sure. In any case, the most important part of it all is, of course, the music. According to Listenable Records’ promotional material, Supuration sounds like a mix of Carcass and Pink Floyd. As disparate as those two examples sound, it’s not too far off. Although Voivod’s very clear influence is equally important to mention. ‘Synergy Awakes’ launches the album with a heavy and fairly conventional brand of death comparable to compatriots Loudblast or Mercyless. But before you know it, a guitar begins to ‘echo’ as if stranded in space with Voivod, and the rhythm section settles into a frantic advance. Clean, etherial vocals go on to be mixed with traditional death ones, while forays into musical discordance underline the crucial sense of the bizarre which defines Supuration’s world. Strangest of all, however, is how enduringly catchy the material remains.
From a non-musician’s perspective, it seems that meticulous effort has been made to keep listenability at the core, no matter where the songs go or what the subject matter. ‘Introversion’ melds darkness and alienation with hooks, while on ‘Consumate’, stuttering guitar work accompanies groove and that evocative, repeated line of ‘Tears me down’. On the subject of vocals, the incomprehensible chanting of ‘The Disenthrall’ even reminds me of a feature from Depeche Mode’s last album (my better half’s domain), which is rather cool. ‘The Delegation’ and ‘Digital Dance’, on the other hand, multiply the weirdness factor. In the former, a strange refrain of ‘Set me free-eefree me’ wants me to tell the voice to go away and leave me alone; whilst in the latter, ‘space voice’ turns into ‘mildly untrustworthy computer voice’. Each one continues the musical journey in style with diversions ranging from the haunting and forlorn to sci-fi. Towards the end, ‘The Flight’ re-emphasises the importance of repetition on ‘CU3E’, while ‘The Climax’ at last adds some weight to that Carcass comparison.
A part of the closing track worthy of particular mention is the vortex which builds and envelopes around the two minute mark. As well as being rather neat, this instance is indicative of the album as a whole, leaving me with the impression of a product which absorbs ears and minds in the manner of some human-harvesting alien vessel. In a word (or three), my feeling is that both Supuration and ‘CU3E’ are very, very good. As mentioned, the seamless blending of peculiarity, catchy tracks – which in places verge on accessible – and distinctly 90s sounding death metal is more than impressive. But to make an entirely coherent end product of it all is a huge achievement. Then again, I am sure that their existent fans expected nothing less than this level of quality.
(8.5/10 Jamie Wilson)
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