Acausal Intrusion - Nulitas [I, Voidhange - 2021]" /> |
Debut from this American duo, Nulitas sees Acausal Intrusion blasting forth nearly an hour of blackened death metal, loosely held together by riffs and blast beats. Feeling like Abruptum's older brother, this album is listed as "technical death metal," but really should be "technically death metal." It's loose, fun, and dark, but chaos and randomness shouldn't be mistaken for technicality. Simultaneously coming from the void and the subterranean realm, Nulitas showcases the band's otherworldly pull and Lovecraftian approach to cosmology. Channeling the mindless chaos on the other side of the veil, Cave Ritual (drums, vocals) and Nythroth (guitar) spin a dizzing cacophony of pummeling percussion and staccato strings. Vile, guttural vocals pull this all together (well, as best as this loose stew can be held) and allow the darkness to take hold. WIth the heaviness of tone and the speed of the drums keeping Nulitas grounded, the guitars are allowed to fly off in varied directions, often with two tracks heading in different trajectories, and reinforce the chaos of the Acausal realm. However, this can often take away from the songs' underlying grimness and theme. Chaos is a delightful element when used as chaos. Chaos in the form of poorly structured riffs and songs, however, feels like that with every minute. When the band is on, they put out some nice, darkened death. However, their approach to chaos and atonality misses the mark and feels like improv and insincere. On the whole, though, there is a lot to take away from this album, and despite the misses, there is still some fun, dark grime to be had.
Acausal Intrusion's debut, Nulitas, features chaotic, blackened death played with aplomb from this duo. While it doesn't always hit the mark, there are some vile bits of pummeling metal that will help you through. However, nearing an hour of runtime, the misses become more apparent and the album becomes more and more of a chore. Paul Casey
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