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Band: Porn
Album title: The Ogre Inside
Release date: 20 October 2017
Label: Echozone
Tracklist:
01. Sunset Of Cruelty
02. She Holds My Will
03. Nothing But The Blood
04. May Be The Last Time
05. Close The Window
06. Death Does Not Last Forever
07. Heavy Is The Crown
08. You Will Be The Death Of Me
09. The Ogre Inside
Don't worry, I want be talking about any kind of erotics, porn or kinky stuff here, neither is this some kind of grind/porn core band, Porn is a name of French band which was formed back in 1999 by psychology and sociology student Philippe Deschemin. I must humbly admit that I wasn't familiar with this band until I came around the project of two Porn members, An Erotic End Of Times, featuring the same Philippe and Erwan who released this June a fantastic album named Chapter One. So Porn is for me quite a new discovery and this new album, The Ogre Inside, is the third full-length of this band. To tell the truth I don't know why the two even bothered with making a new band because Porn and An Erotic End Of Times are very similar sounding acts, ok, maybe An Erotic End Of Times is a bit more apocalyptic, gothy and atmospheric than Porn, but everything else is more or less the same. The Ogre Inside comes six years after the second album named From The Void To The Infinite and it brings an interesting mix of gothic rock/metal and industrial rock.
After listening to the first two totally uninspired tracks of the album I almost threw this thing through the window, but surprise surprise, the rest of the album brings some very good stuff. Porn are quite original band, they've achived through the years their own trademark sound which is based on heavy melodic riffs, industrial/electronic samples, dark gothic synths and strong rhythmic lines, as well the versatile voice of Philippe is quite unique. Although I prefer when Philippe sings with deep, a bit more strong voice, than with kind of slightly high pitched one, it quite fits in here and constant blend of these two vocal styles adds a lot to the dynamics of the album.
For me this album starts with slowly evolving dark and haunting "She Holds My Will" and soon reaches its peak with almost epic nine minutes long obscure and dramatic gothic metal track named "May Be The Last Time". Heavy doomy guitar riffs, evocative dark vocals, dready ambiances, pounding rhythmic lines and captivating melodies are used in perfect symbiosis to create an absolutely stunning atmospheric gothic metal track which nicely builds up the tension. As well the highly atmospheric/industrial track "Death Does Not Last Forever" with its melancholic vibe leaves a very good aftertaste. In between there are another two rather mellow pieces, "Close The Window" and "Heavy Is The Crown", in the second one we can hear vocal samples of Aleister Crowley, adding some kind of an occultistic scent to the whole thing. The album slowly ends in great style with emotive dark ambiances of "You Will Be The Death Of Me", before exploding in the second half into driving catchy gothic/industrial metal beast, and then the album closes up with captivating title track with which Porn prove that they are able to make hauntingly beautiful gothic metal like we rarely hear it today.
The Ogre Inside is an interesting album, it shows two faces of the band, a bland uninspired mellow industrial rock on one side and absolutely stunning dark atmospheric gothic metal on another. Also production could be stronger and more impactful for this kind of music, I think that the sound with a different one could have gained much more power, thus enriching everything. Nevertheless, I prefered An Erotic End Of Times' recently released album over this one, but still I can easily say that the tracks that I exposed above are nothing but great, offering something special that we often miss in the modern industrial or gothic metal scene.
Review written by: T.V.
Rating: 7/10
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