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Band: Choronzon
Album title: ///Consummation//\\Metanoia\\\
Release date: 5 November 2012
Label: Panic Machine
Tracklisting:
01.Transversion Of The Three Worlds
02.System Uncertainty
03.Open Wide The Door
04.The Decay Of Control
05.Procession Of Underworld Multitudes
06.Luminous Apparition
07.Uncovering
08.Cognitive Execution
09.Balances Of Vision
10.Tiphareth
A band that names itself after a demon or devil it's not that unusual when we talk about black metal, but this time the things are far too serious than what usual satanic black metal bands are doing. Let me explain. Choronzon is a project founded by P. Emerson Williams back in 1986 and since then the band is exploring most sinister sounds that could be developed. Emerson is a person who devoted his soul to dark arts and exploration of occult, he's not only a musician, but also artist, illustrator and long time practitioner of occult and chaos magick. Beside Choronzon he's involved also in bands like Veil Of Thorns and Kkoagulaa. Choronzon is a demon which derives from writings of 16th century occultists Edward Kelley and John Dee within the latter's occult system of Enochian magic. But, mostly he became known as an important element with Aleister Crowleys mystical system of Thelema. Thelemites believe that Choronzon is the dweller in the abyss and to be the last great obstacle between the adept and enlightenment. ///Consummation//\\Metanoia\\\ is a mystical journey into the depths of chaos and magick, it's the pain of the psyche growing into new states of being and transcendence of healing to transformation beyond the human essence of being human. It's an occultistic ritual.
What about the music on this album? It's difficult to put it in any mould. Of course it's black, but is it metal? It's also industrial and ambiental, it has doomy elements and a lot of electronics and noise, there is a lot of drone and sludge. Songs can't be separated from this entirety because only as a whole it gives the right picture of what's about. Anyway, take this album as a sinister and notorious journey through some of the most diabolical soundscapes ever recorded. What starts as an ritual, caught into the atmospheric dark industrial sermon within the opener "Transversion Of The Three Worlds" and offers the right, at times slightly tribalistic, invitation into the abyss of darkness and illusion, soon expands into avantgarde black metal fury on "System Uncertainty" and later on aggresive "Cognitive Execution" which reminded me a bit to Samaels album Above. Those enjoying dark ambient will find their unpeace in "Uncovering", "The Decay Of Control" or on conclusive "Tiphareth". "Open Wide The Door" is an amazing and in my opinion greatest track up here. In this one Choronzon shows all of its musical capability, with slowly growing atmosphere that consumes the listener into a vertigo of droneing sounds. Those industrial beats in the background give disturbing psychedelic slow pace and diabolical interlace of distorted vocals drags you into madness. Harsh EBM tribal beats on "Procession Of Underworld Multitudes" makes you almost wanna dance in front of sacrificial altar of delusion and at the same time background layers deliver some nice guitar riffage. On the other hand Choronzon can mix some old school thrash/death metal that reminded me to early Possessed, Hellhammer or Bathory, with sludge, pure industrial and psychedelia on evil "Luminous Apparition". Choronzons music is not an uncontrolled chaos of sound, contrary. Within all those sounds there is a melody which finds its way through the darkness of those distorted sounds. It deserves a lot of listens to be comprehended, but only if you can survive this paranoid and schizoid epic sonic journey. The songs leave kind of coldness, there is no light, only pure darkness, no hope.
Choronzon have achived what is rare in the underground of today. With dusty and rough production, hypnotic vocal job and culminating atmospheres they deliver an outstanding ritualistic avantgarde musical experience. It's chaos in sound or better said, chaos and magick framed into music.
Review written by: T.V.
Rating: 8,5/10
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