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Torment: Forgive the ignorant
22/04/09 || Daemonomania
Now this is an odd duck. The oft-abused and little-understood term progressive death might, for once, actually apply to these Belgian waffles. Thankfully, the progressive is integrated expertly, just enough to add extra whipped cream to the top of a massive breakfast pastry of death.
Also rare is the fact that this is a concept album, and it doesn’t really sacrifice the quality of the music to tell the story. As far as I can tell, somebody in Torment has a fixation on biblical themes, inversion of said themes, insanity, and some classy perverted gore. There’s lots of Part I’s and Part II’s, cleansing of sins, and general craziness.
Let’s talk about the tunes/the players of said tunes/my favorite Chinese food dish Cream of Sum Yung Gai. Each track has a unique character, though I swear a bludgeoning riff that first appears in “Job part I” returns several times throughout. There’s a healthy dose of fast but non-blasty death interspersed with heavy as fuck slower chunks, all of it on an airtight schedule. Time changes crop up, solos are few, and the verse-chorus-verse deal is oft defenestrated.
Normally, this would be the template for a good extreme metal album. What makes it interesting is ze Tormentors chuck in all sorts of nutty shit, perhaps to further the storyline. There is a spooky bit that sounds like a child’s music box, a hint of semi-electronica, sampled cries of the damned, even a fucken flamenco guitar section. Mmmm, caliente!
The vocals are fantastic – Vandendriessche really impresses me with his enunciation, timing, and the uniqueness of his nasty mid-range growl. Mix in some scratchy effects on his voice, a few whispers, and the occasional screech. Add Belgium. Stir until it reaches the consistency of shredded esophagus. The drummer is on point, perhaps a bit too much so. In other words, drumwork is neither natural nor organic. Or free-range. The guitars tear it up, summoning one sludgy Morbid Angel riff after the next, and turning on an extremely thin dime right into razor sharp speedy sections with little effort. And the aforementioned flamenco that makes up “Ritmo del gringo” is aces. The bassist follows the action and is pretty darn audible, considering. Seems like most bands feel the need to toss their bassist a bone from time to time, and let him have a little solo above the madness. Then they make fun of him behind his back. Bastards.
Last but not least, Cream of Sum Yung Gai is delicious. PM me if you want a taste, baby.
But what goes up into the sweet realms of eternal bliss must also descend into the dark realms of farty-smelling smoke. Not really. But the downside to “Forgive the ignorant” is that it gets a bit tiring sometimes. Their death metal assault in combination with multifarious malformed miscellaneousness turns stale on occasion. Nor is this “drink a beer, have a party, throw the horns, and take a dump” metal. Which is most of the metal I listen to, by the way. So you have to be in the right mood for it.
But if you’re in the mood (for love, simply because you’re near me), you too will be wondering what the fuck these fucktards have been up to since 2005. It ain’t everyday that a band comes along with fresh ideas and plenty of chops to see them through. Is “Forgive the ignorant” perfect? Not by a long stretch of my already prodigious member. But they deserve a solid 7.5 out of 10 and should really get to work on some new shit. If we can ever expect their serpent Judas part II, I bet I’ll be impressed.
- Information
- Released: 2005
- Label: Diabolical Constellation Rec.
- Website: www.torment.be
- Band
- Ullie Vandendriessche: vocals
- Nicolas Hernandez: drums
- David Caytan: bass
- Curd “Carloz” Callewaert: guitars
- Jens Decaluwé: guitars
- Tracklist
- 01. Job Part I: The Fall/The Reckoning
- 02. Job Part II: Restless Farewell
- 03. And Then The Madness Comes…
- 04. The Voices
- 05. Expect My Serpent Judas No.I
- 06. Beyond Obscurity
- 07. Confessions Of Routine Sins
- 08. Enlightened
- 09. Petrified Soul/Ritmo Del Gringo
