Tasmania, somewhat cut off from the rest of the world and with no shortage of angry and extreme musicians it would seem. There definitely seems to be a bit of an underground scene there and it never surprises me when something new turns up as it did recently with Throes somewhat harrowing debut album ‘The Viper Room.’ Now Départe have landed on my review pile with their first album Failure, Subside and it is an equally obtuse and excruciating listening experience dealing with themes such as grief, isolation and loss within its narrative frame. The band used to play a more standard form of black metal under the name of Ørannis before going down more mature paths. In the process they have gone down a more ‘post’ route or perhaps that should be postal. Buckle up this one carries a shotgun armed with discontent.
There’s a real post-apocalyptic vibe all over this one and it seems like the band’s name is wisely chosen and like a cult leader on the cusp of madness they would be all too happy for their followers to Départe this grim cold world. The layered approach quickly builds as opener ‘Seas Of Glass’ forms yet to build up to a turbulent miasma. Long elongated notes thickly brood from the speakers and the drums hit with slow determined heft. Tortured voices can be heard in the background but this is just a prelude to the full force. That arrives with ‘Ashes In Bloom’ a windswept and massive battery ploughs forward with unrelenting force the weight of everything a contusion of grimness. Things slow into near funeral doom parts with gruff vocals before suddenly surging into a welter of bruising beats which at full force fling you down a Portal etched vortex. It’s claustrophobic and stifling, the sound equivalent of being hit by a massive panic attack. Tracks are long, often developing over a ten minute mark and leaving little in the way of a route for escape to the beleaguered listener. There is a surprise though as the gurgled vocals suddenly lighten into clean and fragrant harmonic ones. At first I wasn’t sure it worked but this approach has grown and bring a much-needed snatch of light relief. Long glimmering instrumental parts bring plenty of atmosphere here as well and really help you soak things up and lose yourself in their slow mesmerising flow before the next track takes up the beat once more. As the vocalist bellows like a wounded boar over things one may naturally be reminded of the likes of Neurosis but as all things like this stem from them that’s hardly surprising and Départe have built things into a definitive style of their own. I do particularly like the way the players go “on the nod” and just play shard like fragmentary riffs with what sounds like it could be the wind blowing a chill through an abandoned world of ice and ashes in the background.
Although a dense album this is not one that once you have weathered is going to be one that is difficult to get to grips with. Surviving it over the 50 minute playing time is another case though as it constantly gnaws away and wears you down moving from one lengthy passage to the next. Volatile and spewing out percussive might and chugging riffs one second and slowing down into more grandiose parts the next it takes you through an emotive ride the concluding piece ‘Ruin’ doing just as suggested and clogging your very arteries with its wrought out pain and disgust.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
https://www.facebook.com/departe
http://departenoise.bandcamp.com
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