Never short on concept, Venomous Echoes returns with Dysmor, utilizing a forward thinking blend of death and black metal to tackle the anxiety, fear, and frantic thoughts caused by the artist's body dysmorphia. With this in mind, it also helps to shed some light on the subject matter of 2023's Writhing Tomb Amongst the Stars, but sees a musical progression in form and construction. Never one to rest on his laurels, Ben Valweeden is a one man maelstrom handling everything but the cover art. His vision is clear and his path from start to finish takes the listener through chaos, madness, grime, terror, but also distorted beauty in the form of piano and sax.Truly and intriguing and engaging work, Dysmor is another great album in a quickly growing catalog.
Showing a strong leap forward in arrangement and composition, Dysmor continues to show Venomous Echoes move toward complex, otherworldly metal, keeping everything constantly flowing to avoid easy genre classification. It's this commitment to the music itself, not the idea of what it should be, that gives Valweeden the freedom to compose and construct the sounds and structures needed to stay true to his vision. As metal extends its stiff fingers further into other realms and pulls in more and more territory, artists can integrate their influences in more creative ways. One such influence on display in Dysmor is Morbid Angel. As a fan of theirs for over thirty years, hearing certain riffs and arrangements that echo classic tracks from Blessed Are the Sick or other Azagthoth-y pieces definitely hit home, but their place in the futuristic terror of Venomous Echoes is original and unique. One thing is for certain with Valweeden, he has his own voice and vision, and no matter the amount of influence older bands have had, he will sound like himself. Dysmor also incorporates pianos and sax into some pieces, furthering the reach of the work. The piano is dark and enigmatic, but played with aplomb, whereas most other acts seem like they're randomly hitting keys until something comes about. And the sax is chaotic, feeling very Zorn or like Siege's "Grim Reaper," which adds more to the disquiet of the album.
Venomous Echoes' Dysmor is an album that needs to be experienced to fully understand it. Words can only get you so far, and Dysmor is the portal that brings the listener fully into Valweeden's world. While terms like "alien" and "otherworldly" are used to describe the works of Venomous Echoes, that's all perspective, because the material involved is all inside of us (more specifically Valweeden, but body dysmorphia affects more people than realized). Looking inward can be as infinite, and infinitely terrifying, than looking out into the vastness of space. Infinity runs in all directions, so it's refreshing to see this vastness pointed at innerspace. Venomous Echoes continues to impress, and at the yearly pace of albums, we can only hope that we're blessed with another engrossing work in 2026.
