Ulsect — Ulsect
They belong to a newer trend in technical metal which draws as much from doom and black metal as from death metal, focusing more heavily on atmosphere and melodic elements than the technical death metal of the mid 2000's. Bands such as Pyrrhon and Ulcerate are also part of this phenomenon.
This style involves the use of a relentlessly dark, uncomfortable melodic sensibility, in which no chord that even hints at consonance or major key is permitted to be used. Within this melancholic palette, there's a lot of diversity and subtle gradation to be found. I wouldn't call the riffing style found on this album 'redundant', but at the same time, I must admit that the stubbornly down , rainy day feeling of the album puts me off of listening to it too much, as with most black metal related music.
Ulsect shares its chunky guitar tones and gradual but steady, deliberate pacing with post/doom metal bands like Sumac, Isis or Neurosis, utilizing full, thick chords strummed in unison by two guitarists for a monolithic, glacial hugeness. Their deep, muted, discordant chug and subtle rhythmic arrangements recall Meshuggah at times, as well, though they never near the complexity or off kilter oddness of Meshuggah, instead deriving influence from Meshuggah's most sluggish, ominously ambient songs.
The songwriting on the album is uniformly great, each song brimming with atmosphere and that elusive transcendence unique to black metal, not unlike escaping the body to astral project over ice bitten forests and mountains. The songs flow in a natural manner, each riff a logical and poetic thread in the larger cloth. The lead guitarist's contributions carry the album; minor and diminished arpeggiations flow unforced from his fingers . There are some deeply effecting, almost tear inducing melodies to be heard at times, though much of the music strives for intimidation and vertigo. I would probably have enjoyed the album more if they had allowed a bit more sentimentality to shine through the stormy murk. Bands like this are perhaps trying too hard to capture the sensation of fear.
Newer Gorguts material such as the ambitious EP "Pleiades Dust" has Ulsect beat as far as detail and uniqueness goes, but Ulsect is superior in many ways as well, eschewing the overwrought conceptualization Luc Lemay is prone to engage in for a more direct, expessive and natural feeling sound. Titles such as "Our Trivial Toil" eloquently communicate a simple bitterness and frustration in a way that matches the sound of the music perfectly.
This is a well constructed, deep and listenable album of post black metal. I've often found this style of music difficult to give repeated listenings in the way it deserves, as it takes place in an emotionally unwelcoming, despair filled world, but this is hardly grounds to criticize the album's quality. Every piece on this album is in its place. If I would wish the band to change anything, it would to diversify their tone and approach, to create something further beyond the realms of what other bands have done. Devoted fans of this genre will undoubtedly eat this up.