Tetragrammacide – Typho-Tantric Aphorisms From The Arachneophidian Qur’an
Release Date: 3rd November 2023
Label: Iron Bonehead
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal, Extreme Metal, Death Metal.
FFO: Teitanblood, Aparthiva Raktadhara, Deiphago, Diocletian, Death Worship, Pissgrave, Pseudogod.
Review By: Jeff Finch
Ever listen to something so brazenly heavy that you need to take a breath, maybe listen to a palate cleanser afterwards, ponder life, the universe, and everything? Well, if you have, you’re already prepared for this new Tetragrammacide; if you haven’t, well, you will soon, because this new record from the Indian gents in Tetragrammacide is an exercise in sheer brutality, a virtually non-stop onslaught, hell-bent on making its listeners feel as though they’ve just run a marathon through the depths of hell, all the while being forced to recite the names of each of these tracks over and over.
It’s not often looking at the names of the tracks give an idea of how an album will sound, but this is one of the records that does; the pure chaotic nature of the track titles provides an inkling of just how obscene this album is going to be. Yet, opening track Trans-linguistic Utterance Of A Sacred Orgasmal Cry Fills The Lemurian Sky (By The Same Mouth, One True God Crieth Hriliu) does nothing to prepare listeners for the hellacious fury forthcoming, featuring a lot of chanting / spiritual spoke word, warbling noises seeping through from the background, doing absolutely everything in its power to lull listeners into a sense of calm and normalcy, in order for the opening of Spectral Hyaenas Of Amenta Howl, The Vulture Of Ma’at Descends, And Tahuti Watches Without His Ape to burst forth from the depths. Viscerally assaulted are listeners, as blast beats, inhumanely paced riffs, and layered screams pummel. Not once does the percussive ferocity diminish, standing out among the maelstrom as our vocalist maintains a powerful low growl, the guitars acting in a complementary role.
Laser precise instrumentation is on full display on Mandelbrot Scarab Of Fractal Manifestation Trapped In The Arachnid Webs, Spun Above The Hidden Pathways Into Non-Euclidean Interbetweenness, showcasing that black metal flair the band is known for, the tremolo riffs blisteringly quick to keep pace with the nonsensical drumming, all the while our vocalist stays in that pocket of deep low growl, lending more to extreme death metal than black metal, yet managing to be the exact tone of vocal to keep the aggression at its absolute maximum, the slight solo that rears its end towards the end of the track acting as one of the few reprieves from the heretofore unwavering and unending chaos spewed forth from the speakers. In fact, barring the solos present on this track and Fundamental Reconciliation Between Maya And Yama Through Perpetual Okbish-Ouroboric Cunnilingus, the latter a clean tapping solo that segues into a brief shred-fest, the only time listeners get the opportunity to breathe are on tracks Kalikshetra-Kairo Consciousness Revival (Alogical Exegesis Of The Sandhipada-Sarisreepa Continuum Vigyaan), which features simple drum patterns and a smattering of noises, and the final track Fifteen Streams of Lunar Kalas Secrete From The Quaking Yoni Of The Goddess Sixteen (Tantric Alchemy Of The Cascading Nectars Of Sodashi), which is more akin to the opening track, only this time bringing listeners down from the high the rest of the album.
With Typho-Tantric Aphorisms From The Arachneophidian Qur’an, Tetragrammacide has crafted the sonic equivalent of getting relentlessly beat up for 12 rounds with only one break, midway through the fight, a veritable barrage of intensity nearly unmatched in music today. Unchained in its ferocity and brutal in its musicality, Tetragrammacide have, nonetheless, crafted an album that is so heavy, so unrestrained, so obscenely powerful, that it can be a bit much at times. Though ‘filler’ tracks can sometimes derail the flow of an album, they’re needed on this one. The sheer volume of notes present is enough to truly exhaust a listener, as at points the tracks blur together, coalescing into one giant onslaught of musical malevolence. Yet, for those of you that have an extreme side with your musical tastes, Tetragrammacide has just the thing for you this year.
(4 / 5)
