THE AXIS OF PERDITION "Tenements..." - reviews

[Myklon_B]

TERRORVERLAG

Diese Engländer sollen Industrial Psycho Metal zocken... nach einem kaum wahrnehmbaren Intro ("The Sleeper" - passender Titel) scheppert irgendwo im Hintergrund irgendwas böse rum, und das eine Stunde lang. Avantgardistischer Post/ Prog-Black Metal ist an einigen Stellen aus dem Wirrwarr des Openers "Unveiled" zu erkennen.

So sirren allerdings auch alle anderen Songs vollkommen flach aus den Boxen. Entrückte Gesänge und Black Metal-Gekeife legen sich über den monotonen Schreddersound, der wohl nur den Abgebrühtesten zusagen wird. Völlig Dissonant und mit einem kaum erkennbaren Songwriting rauscht die Scheibe an einem vorbei. Einzig das melodische (!), sehr atmosphärisch-ruhige "Ordained" lässt erkennen, dass hier Instrumentalisten am Werk sind, die dann doch mal so was wie Musik zusammenkleistern können.

Braucht dennoch kein musikalisch klarer Kopf diesen Schwurbel.

 

[Bard F]

http://www.alonemusic.it/section.php?article=1997&section=recensioni

Il dark ambient è un genere di difficile catalogazione, i limiti sono estremamente confusi e sfumati, un po’ come il concept stesso del genere, per questo motivo molte band non trovando un valida alternativa finiscono col definirsi appartenenti a tale filone espressivo. Tornando alla recensione in senso più “stretto” uno di questi gruppi è certamente The Axis of Perdition, seppur definendosi un connubio tra il dark ambient e l’industrial black metal, della prima componente in questo nuovo lavoro “Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh)” troviamo solo lontanissimi rimandi poiché l’intero full lenght è caratterizzato da un’industrial portato all’estremo, dove le atmosfere rarefatte e nebbiose non trovano posto.
Questo nuovo lavoro a distanza di soli due anni dal loro ultimo album “Urfe”, è composto da dieci track dalla media durata per un totale di circa un’ora di ascolto e ripropone tutti gli standard del gruppo, riff di chitarra stridenti, sonorità martellanti e voce completamente distorta che ha ben poco di umano. A differenza degli ultimi lavori, come accennavo anche nella intro della mia recensione, la parte tipicamente dark ambient è stata quasi totalmente tagliata per lasciare spazio a sonorità più artificiali e meccanizzate, c’è chi può apprezzare questa sorta di “novità”, personalmente trovo che l’unico risultato ottenuto con questo metodo sia quello di appiattire l’impatto e la personalità stessa del full lenght rendendolo troppo omogeneo.
Nonostante questo sia un buon lavoro da uno gruppi attualmente più famosi del genere, ci si aspetterebbe dopo tanti anni di carriera qualcosa in più invece di una versione più dozzinale di “Deleted Scenes from the Transition Hospital”, ed una registrazione che quanto meno esaltasse ancor di più strumenti probabilmente ritenuti di poco conto (chitarra in primis). Da ricordare come ultima nota i riferimenti alla nota saga di videogames Silent Hill (da cui la band si ispira) che molti fan riusciranno a cogliere.

7,5/10

 

[Myklon_B]

ZWAREMETALEN

Net nu ik het niet meer verwachtte komt The Axis of Perdition op de proppen met een metalen album. De Urfe saga leek nochtans de doodsteek voor het metal-verhaal te zijn, hetgeen dit Tenements des te verrassender maakt. En verrassend is het muzikaal zeker ook geworden.

Want wat je ook mag gehoord hebben in het prille begin van The Axis Of Perdition, dit is amper herkenbaar materiaal geworden. De basis van de industriële extremiteiten is een psychotisch bloedbad, clusterbommen bestaande uit dissonante gitaarlijnen die steeds verder transformeren naarmate een nummer vordert, kille explosies en verraderlijke valstrikken en wendingen. De link met Blut Aus Nord is qua verkniptheid nog enigszins houdbaar, al zijn de psychotische elementen van Aborym en de agressiviteit en kilte van The Amenta relevanter dan ooit tevoren. Het is dus wel degelijk een puur metalalbum geworden, industrieel en enorm klinisch weliswaar, maar spek voor de bek van extreme metal-adepten.

Het is vrij moeilijk om dit album samen te vatten in enkele regels trouwens. Ook al zitten veel nummers vast aan geordende chaotisering en avant-garde/industrial met een heel spectrum aan psychische stoornissen, toch vind je ook progressief melodisch gitaarwerk terug (Sigil and Portents) met een jaren '90 (black metal) -gevoel (Borknagar). Knoop daar maar eens touwen aan vast... Nu, vervelen doet het niet, maar of het genoeg consistentie kent voor de luisteraars?

Verrassend, opmerkelijk en in mijn oren ook geslaagd. Niet geheel onconventioneel in de zin van de rol die The Axis of Perdition zich de laatste albums heeft toebedeeld, maar een op zichzelf staande ervaring van een obscure, bizarre beleving. Voor liefhebbers van reeds genoemde bands, maar ook een Blacklodge, Reverence of Spektr. Benieuwd of de lijn doorgetrokken zal worden.

80/100

 

[Myklon_B]

DEATHMETALBABBOON

For the fans of occult Black Metal, we’ve got one from the Italian label of utterly fucked-up, but usually highly enjoyable, occult Black Metal, Code666. About a week or two ago an album by the UK formation The Axis of Perdition was released through the label. It was the band’s fourth studio album since it was ripped from its mother’s smelling, bleeding uterus in 2001.

Tenements (of the Anointed Flesh) is how the band baptized this fourth one of its own creations. The Code666 fact sheet states that the album is “an album that cuts to the very heart of The Axis of Perdition and exposes the diseased core with a violence, depth and derangement that is so far unmatched in the band’s discography. Haunting, moving, excruciating and excoriating in equal measure, it is an album that demands attention from start to finish and will leave no listener untouched.” It also describes the album’s genre as “Industrial Psycho Metal”.

Well fuck me sideways! I have to review that?! I fear I’ll end up as a gibbering drooling maniac if even three seconds of it reach my ears, let alone a full one-hour album of it. Still, for the glory of Metal I’ll set myself to the task.

But, I’ll introduce the band first, as there are some peculiarities there. First off, there are seven members, which seems a lot. Then, on the other hand, I doubt the richly filled chaos that this album is could be produced by a smaller group. Anyfuck, we’ve got Brooke Johnson (vocals, guitar, bass and “noise”), Michael Blenkarn (guitar and noise), Ian Fenwick (bass, again?), Dan Mullins (drums and percussion), Leslie Simpson (Flotsam, What. The Fuck?!), Chris Walsh (guitars) and Richard Brass (guitars). With two bassists, the element of “noise” and the element of “flotsam”, I’m gonna go ahead and call this an odd bunch. Any objections?

So, the record’s music has been penetrating my own ears for the past ten minutes or so and I can already say that all of what was written in the Code666 is true, even the fuckin’ genre descriptor, because quite frankly I wouldn’t know what else to call it. Moreover, I’d like to start by terming it “concentrated chaos”. This stuff is capable of permanently mentally deforming young children and old age pensioners. All in between will at least have their eardrums branded with the band’s hellish logo.

You read that right above, there really is an hour worth of this music, spread out over ten tracks of highly variable duration. The ambient, atmosphere-setting intro track preps you for the horrors that are to come, a voice stating “this is only the beginning”. Air raid alarms start ringing and suddenly turn into face-melting tunes as the first proper song, Unveiled, kicks in. This one’s still very much characterized as Black Metal, though probably the most hellish I’ve ever heard. Extensive use of the devil’s and chatter, screams and growls taken straight from a Satan-raising ritual. It ain’t pretty.

The next track, Unbound, continues in much the same vein but about halfway starts featuring some indistinctive uncontrolled guitar freaking that already tends towards that Industrial Psycho Metal Code666 speaks about. That element seems to get progressively stronger as the tracks pass by, up to and including the eighth track, Disintegration. Then the ninth track, Ordained, suddenly forms an oasis of rest, calmness and order. There’s still evil in it, but it’s contained, tamed, trained. And finally, track no. 10 is an ambient outro.

As always, this post includes some musical accompaniment. Normally I pick a favorite of mine, this time I picked a characteristic one. It’s called The Flesh Spiral and it’ll drive you mad.

So, did I enjoy listening to this album? Nope. Do I understand it? Not one fuckin’ bit, and I don’t suppose I ever will. Do I hear some of its intrinsic qualities. Yep! There’s a lot to be listened to and enjoyed on this album, if you can chew through the many layers of hell and arse-rippin’ evil that cover it (or if you enjoy that sort of thing). I’m just going to have to let it pass by myself, and for that reason won’t stick a grade on it either, because that honestly wouldn’t have any fuckin’ meaning at all. I’ll just state that if you’ve got a taste for occult Black Metal and don’t mind a bit of chaos and vomiting demon speak in your music, this is one for you to check out.

?/10

 

[Emi]

http://www.pavillon666.fr/chronique-metal-6001.php

7/10

Difficile d’appréhender un tel album, surtout quand on connait le passé assez particulier de The Axis of Perdition. Ce groupe britannique ayant déjà sorti trois album et un EP, avait peiné à convaincre à cause de sa particularité d’imbriquer des sonorités Industrielles à tout va et un peu n’importe comment. La réputation du quatuor laissait donc à désirer, même si conceptuellement, les idées pouvaient être bonnes…

Cette fois-ci, jetons-nous donc au sein de la folie de The Axis of Perdition avec ce nouvel album « Tenements (Of the Anointed Flesh) », signé chez Code666. Rien que la pochette rougeâtre où semblent s’étirer les branches d’un arbre malade nous laisse un peu perplexe. Toutefois, elle est représentative de l’opus en question. Cette sorte d’apparition de l’arbre malade n’est pas anodine car c’est vraiment une plongée dans un univers malade et torturé qui nous attend. A la manière de Blut Aus Nord mais en encore plus fourre tout, « Tenements… », à la première écoute, ne semble pas cohérent. Les sonorités fusent, les riffs partent dans tous les sens et ne semblent pas suivre une ligne bien distincte, le chant décharné et complètement aliéné suit avec entrain cette folie de composition, à tel point que le tout semble pris dans un engrenage infini de sons, d’ambiances, et de mélodies en tout genre, pas forcément faciles à entendre ni apprécier.

Certains passages aux claviers, vides, aériens et juste dotés d’un son en arrière plan peuvent aisément prendre au cœur un auditeur s’étant pris au jeu du quatuor. D’autant plus que ces passages peuvent s’incorporer en plein milieu d’un morceau, après un début rocambolesque et maladif (« Dark Red Other »). Le rendu est vraiment particulier, si déroutant qu’on ne sait vraiment pas à quoi s’attendre sur cet opus. Devons-nous nous appréhender une fin aussi calme, ou alors, une déflagration finale, ou bien encore, un ensemble de sonorités toutes aussi aliénées les unes que les autres…Ce « Tenements… » est vraiment un grand mystère…

L’intro de « Changer » à la guitare et aux claviers, toujours avec ces mélodies étranges et ce son de cloche, peut vraiment déstabiliser, jusqu’à l’arrivée des riffings et d’un chant black totalement déshumanisés. Et même lorsque les accélérations arrivent, les harmonies à la guitare semblent si distordues qu’il est impossible de deviner quelles sont les notes réelles…

Le mélange de vocaux met encore plus en relief ce monde de fou dans lequel nous sommes entrés. Voix black, voix claire, parfois proche d’un certain lyrisme à la Vortex (« Unbound » ou « The Flesh Spirtal » par exemple), c’est d’autant plus déroutant et spécial que sombre et apocalyptique.

Car finalement, The Axis of Perdition nous joue réellement une musique apocalyptique, décadente, pourrissante…difficile d’accès aux premières écoutes, les suivantes ne sont pour nous qu’une façon de comprendre cette œuvre aussi complexe que rude. La folie créative du quatuor nous livre donc un « Tenements… » aux multi facettes, expérimental, dérangeant, violent, déstructuré, et malsain.

 

[Emi]

MINDVIEW
http://www.bladerbrochure.nl/brochure/code/ToN3DRjTuY8S4B3Ix2n26NzN334369

6/7

 

[Emi]

http://www.hardsounds.it/PUBLIC/recensione.php?id=7245

7/10

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Per la band inglese l'apocalisse dev'essere sempre concettualmente in primo piano. Non tante per le tematiche, ma per la proposta sonora che con questo quarto album raggiunge il sua apice: industrial black metal dall'incedere catastrofico. 'Tenements' è un disco freddo quanto impulsivo, costruito morbosamente su ritmiche incalzanti, martellanti, e su un riffing ossessivo e paranoico in cui l'unico segno distintivo è la dissonanza. Un lavoro ancora una volta non immediato, e non di facile assimiliazione anche dopo diversi ascolti che purtroppo gode di una produzione alquanto incosistente che non permette ai brani di esplodere, e di fare emergere tutti i particolari - soprattutto quelli tecnici - che lo caratterizzano. Annichilente, disturbante, 'Tenements' alla lunga paga dazio per la sua smodatezza, per quella che tutto sommato è anche la sua virtù, tra l'altro trademark della band. Quindi, a conti fatti, è un album destinato ai devoti ascoltatori del genere, è certo non troverà nuovi estimatori, nè curiosi nonostante il proprio universo tematico sia legato a quello dei videogame della serie Silent Hill.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Positivo, ma interlocutorio.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]VOTO 70[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]_GUIDA AL GIUDIZIO[/FONT]

 

[Myklon_B]

METAL TEAM UK

When The Axis Of Perdition dropped the hour and a half of narration set within twisted, disturbing soundscapes that was Urfe it's fair to say that they split their fanbase; some left the room confused, bored or with an intangible feeling of betrayal. Others (myself included, for reference) clambered on board and let it carry us on a dark and twisted journey that left us silently mouthing incoherent noises and blinking in the gloom too stunned to explain. This, then is the final chapter in Urfe's journey through a decaying, filth and rust ridden world. And after the last double album I truly had no idea what I was plunging into within Tenements. None.

"Am I dead? "

"Of course not, Mr Urfe. "

It's a bridge rather than an intro, the deceptively quiet dark, ambient noise that The Axis uses to carve out those sick, decaying industrial cathedral landscapes. Sepia and rust through a grained film, stains on concrete that could be blood or shit or both. Or worse. Joining Urfe to its final chapter. Then the ground vanishes and you are falling into a void which has precious few reference points. It has song titles this time; Unveiled. Unbound. Sigils & Portents. The Flesh Spiral. Dark Red Other. Changer. Disintegration. Ordained. Awakenings. These are the narration this time, other meaning is scraped from the half caught strangled barks and shouts of the words within the songs.

I say songs. But for the first five tracks of Tenements you are pulled, scraped and mercilessly hammered down by a maelstrom of industrial riffage, malignant drumming and the chaotic scratching of the increasingly discordant keyboards and guitars. There may be songs by title and even shockingly recognisable melody and clear vocals may appear briefly in Sigils & Portents, but this is no less difficult than its predecessor. It is monotonous. Not altogether tedious; just monotonous in its determination to render down your stamina by its lack of shape or development and the constant disturbing writhing. Transformation through the repetition of no real shape, or through the imposition of a chaotic but unchanging atmospheric template over each song? I don’t know. But once again I see fans splitting and re-splitting. Some will like the return to aggressive music while others may well simply find this a long single passage that sounds too unvaried in tone and atmosphere despite the myriad of things going on with the guitar and keys. I am disorientated. I'm not in the Transition Hospital or in the world of the last album.

The tangle of blackened limbs and twisted metal clears on 'Dark Red Other'. It carves out a dark, cavernous knave of creaking and dripping metal rot, Lustmord tinged malevolence creeping through before the maw of 'Changer' and the crumbling, darkly brilliant racket of 'Disintegration' swallow you once more.

The exit from this journey is through the eerie portals of the Arcturus style neoclassical baroque insanity of 'Ordained' with its deadly serious sense of self, and then the coda of 'Awakenings'. The latter also being the ante chamber to the harrowing that has gone before, so it brings us back full circle to the first track on Urfe. Voices collapse into themselves reminding us that it begins and ends with Pylon. There isn't just relief, but also a slow crystallisation of the album taking shape even as it recedes, as I look back at it.

It's the sudden realisation that this moment started with the first sound of Urfe and that Pylon is the guide through his transformation, that these last few songs would not have worked without the belligerent single tone of those early tracks. Pylon is the occult guide who takes you through these trials for this revelation: Induction, Destruction, Enlightenment, Rebuilding, Release.

I have to return to that beginning to know if this works.

So I take out Urfe and start my journey again. More than two and a half hours later I return to this spot. It is a hard journey and one you wont make often as it is disinclined to allow you to dip in, so is it worth it? Well listened to with Urfe, Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh) is amplified. The unvaried passages are now something that really does drift badly for me but slowly and deliberately pulling itself out via 'Dark Red Other' to 'Disintegration'. It is a test of determination. But in a way, for me, it is also what makes that final part work so well. It brings it into such sharp relief that you are suddenly reconnected to the journey beginning and that.. that works so very well.

I really don't know how to judge it. Once more The Axis Of Perdition deliver one more headfuck to the world.

Lurking in their derelict industrial wasteland, they continue to be the relentless kind of wrongness that bends and buckles reality into angles that simply don't exist in their genre. I think Urfe pushed them so far out from what Black Metal of any stripe is meant to be that Tenements is either their way of trying to find another door back inside just as fellow different-drummers Blut Aus Nord did after the equally-but-differently divisive 'Morte', or this is The Axis Of Perdition sacrificing their last reference points and cutting themselves adrift in the chaosphere. We shall see.

As a stand alone album Tenements is a curious artefact. I suppose that the presence of the creaking blackened psycho industrial metal of a great deal of Tenements may lure back some who faded away during or after Urfe. But taken from that point of view, for those wanting a return to the Transition Hospital, I would find way too little variation in the metal chaos to make it worth my while. That first third may even disappoint some who loved Urfe. But if you can make the entire journey, this is part of a set of work that will stick with you forever.

I guess I'm in the latter court, for all it's difficulties.

Whatever, I wish The Axis Of Perdition good fortune as we need bands as determined to just follow their own path as they are. For me they continue to be peerless and essential and frustrating and difficult and rewarding in equal measure. Great music in other words.

Just be prepared to make sacrifices to it to get out the black gold inside this.

http://www.myspace.com/theaxisofperdition
http://theaxisofperdition.com/



Gizmo

 

[Emi]

http://brutalcrush.wordpress.com/20...of-perdition-e-johan-wolfgang-pozoj/#more-561

 

[Myklon_B]

PUSH TO FIRE

The Axis of Perdition - Tenements (of the Anointed Flesh)
Reviewed by Captain Morgan

Sonically sinister duo The Axis of Perdition has unleashed a vicious collection of depravity-laden songs on their recent outing, 'Tenements (of the Anointed Flesh)', 10 tracks of dissonance, industrial programming, black metal misanthropy and vehement aggression.

Comprised of Tetsuo Unit BRJ on vocals, guitar bass and programming and Test Subject MGB on guitars, keys and programming; The Axis . . . melds black metal song structures with programmed industrial beats and haunting atmospherics to generate a supremely creepy group of tracks. Tenements . . . is the final chapter in the horrific story of the band's fated character, Urfe. The band describes this final chapter as, "Urfe's ordeal, far from over, enters a new phase of abjection and torment which may only be escaped by surrendering his flesh and every vestige of himself to the malign underworld in which he is condemned to exist, in the process burrowing to its absolute nadir - and within his tragic fate is inextricably bound the fate of the world he left behind." I'm not sure if I can gather that from repeated listenings, but I can say that Tenements . . . is as catchy as it is nightmarish. As intriguing as it is disgusting. It's easy to both love and hate the album at the same time.

The Axis of Perdition offer a unique blend to the metal world that will, hopefully, be accepted on a larger scale by more bands moving forward. Obviously, no one will ever create such blissful torture as these lads do.

 

[Emi]

http://www.themusicfix.co.uk/content/review/14154/the-axis-of-perdition.html

8/10

For the concluding part of the Urfe trilogy, avant-garde Tyneside black metallers The Axis Of Perdition have abandoned the gratuitous narration-led indulgence that ran through the first two thirds of the story and have returned to being the outfit of their debut The Ichneumon Method. For a band that draws so heavily upon the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft, it was an odd decision to go with material that eschewed the suggestion and subtlety that was the hallmark of the man’s literature; and by contrast a relief to all that it is to some extent a part of the fabric once again.

The opening half of Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh) is an unrelenting blast of hyperactive guitars, the panic of an unseen chase through dark alleyways in a desperate bid to survive. The atmospheric, chilling elements that marked Deleted Scenes From The Transition Hospital out as something special are almost entirely forgotten here, instead the band relying on sheer force of heaviness to bring their patients to submission. But it is still distinctly The Axis Of Perdition, the wandering paranoia of those guitar lines are quite unique, the disharmony always unsettling yet never jarring.

But as we slip from ‘The Flesh Spiral’ into ‘Dark Red Other’, Tenements... takes on a much darker overtone, an even more vivid recollection of their earlier work. The mighty ‘Disintegration’ does exactly that, the track breaking down in a fit of schizophrenic madness that thrills and disturbs the recipient in equal measures. The sheer density of the conclusion is a beautiful confusion of all those monsters under the bed and in your head distilled into a few short minutes of delirium.

And then at the last we have the release of ‘Ordained’, quite possibly the finest eight minutes of twisted, delusional music The Axis Of Perdition have ever committed to tape. A dangerous mix of synths fleeting around the edge of consciousness like demons in the night and euphoric rumbling guitars rising like a burst of adrenaline in a fit of depression suffuses to create a musical high akin to a moment of pure exultation. Shivers run down the spine at 5:36 as it peaks and begins the downward spin back into insanity, the cacophony of voices that is the concluding ‘Awakenings’ only emphasising the fleetingness of the lucidity.

 

[Emi]

ROCK TRIBUNE MAGAZINE (printed - belgium)

The Axis Of Perdition
Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh)
Code 666/Aural
Het Engelse septet The Axis Of Perdition heeft er altijd al een onconventionele speelstijl op na gehouden en verandert dat absoluut niet op hun vierde volwaardige album ‘Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh)’. Zelf noemen ze hun muziekstijl ‘Industrial Psycho Metal’ en verdomd als het niet waar is dat deze vlag de lading dekt. Hun mengvorm van industrial en extreme metal levert hen vergelijkingen op met acts als Blut Aus Nord of Void Of Silence, maar dat is hier ten kantore geen bezwaar, integendeel. De band met Void Of Silence is sinds vorig jaar trouwens extra sterk, want zanger Brooke Johnson hielp zijn Italiaanse makkers voort met het inzingen van hun recentste schijf ‘The Grave Of Civilisation’. Dat deed hij met verve, maar hier gaat hij toch een pak manischer te werk! The Axis Of Perdition heeft op zich natuurlijk al een heel ongewone muzikale aanpak waarmee ze ongetwijfeld heel wat argeloze luisteraars gek zullen maken, e wel om verschillende redenen. Hun knarsende gitaarsound zit vol disharmonisch geweld en vanwege het veelvuldig goochelen met syncopen raakt het minder ervaren oor al snel de weg kwijt in dit supersonische labyrint. Wie zich echter schrap zet en er niets uit maakt om dieper te graven, zal heel wat uitdagingen mogen verwachten. Eén ding zal iedere luisteraar wel ervaren: discomfort. Het ongemak druipt van de decomposities van The Axis Of Perdition en het geheel klinkt ontegensprekelijk uiterst ziekelijk. Voor de meer masochistische medemens is net dat trekje de meestal langgerekte nummers van de band zo verslavend maakt… en er is geen methadonkuur om je er vanaf te helpen! Wij gaan onszelf hier nog eens een dosis Axis toedienen.


Morbid Geert
89/100

 

[Emi]

http://www.headbang.it/recensione/tenements-of-the-anointed-flesh/9996

7/10

La carriera degli inglesi The Axis Of Perdition prosegue in maniera particolare ed estrema con il nuovo Tenements (Of the Anointed Flesh). Il gruppo sta lentamente mutando forma confermando saldamente quelle caratteristiche tecnico/folli che hanno fatto da sempre la loro fortuna. Non c'è più quella particolare atmosfera malata dei primi lavori però, e nemmeno quel grigio ed inumano caos che mi spingeva ad una continua esplorazione di lavori come The Ichneumon Method (And Less Welcome Techniques), l'ep Physical Illucinations in the Sewer of Xuchilbara (The Red God) o Deleted Scenes from the Transition Hospital. Ad essere puntigliosi un certo caos vige ancora, solo che definirlo caos sarebbe a questo punto errato visto quello proposto in precedenza. I The Axis Of Perdition stanno maturando e il loro percorso attuale li porta ad adattarsi alla sempre più crescente richiesta di "spigolosità intelettuale" in forma musicale. Estremi e d'avanguardia lo erano, lo sono e molto probabilmente lo saranno sempre, diciamo che ora più di prima si trovano nella situazione ideale per farsi notare.

Tenements (Of the Anointed Flesh) è un grande album da qualsiasi parte lo si giri, il voto potrà apparire basso (i primi dischi rimangono per me superiori) ma posso assicurare una intensa qualità lungo tutta l'ora di durata. Gli inglesi vogliono martoriare l'ascoltatore con rabbia ed intensità "controllate", così i momenti di respiro sono davvero pochi e tutti sul finale. La particolare alchimia sonora, definibile come una sorta di avantgarde industrial black metal, riceve una produzione particolare ed "apatica" che sembra voler "remare contro" la consueta potenza o pienezza di questo tipo di produzioni. Non so se questo effetto sia voluto o meno, è come se i The Axis Of Perdition avessero voluto confonderci le idee con questa trovata che ho recepito comunque in maniera positiva.
Il risultato finale è quello di avere per le mani un prodotto freddo e chirurgico, eccellente manipolatore di continua dissonanza grazie a delle chitarre aspre e sempre in movimento. Come sempre a proprio agio è Brooke Johnson con la sua voce personale e corrosiva, non è per niente facile costruire linee vocali interessanti su questa musica ma lui puntualmente ci riesce (e fa tesoro della recente esperienza con i Void Of Silence nella penultima Ordained estraendo dal cilindro una linea pulita da urlo).

Nella sua particolarità il disco è abbastanza lineare, a partire dall'ottimo terzetto iniziale formato da Unveiled (assieme a Ordained la mia preferita), Unbound e Sigil and Portents (altro highlights) restiamo invischiati in un clima asettico che verrà spezzato in un primo momento dalla buona strumentale Dark Red Other, poi dalla già citata Ordained, un brano etereo che nulla centra con il resto dell'album, traghettatore verso la definitiva tranquillità di Awakenings.

Ascoltatelo e riascoltatelo, Tenements (Of the Anointed Flesh) fa parte di quella nutrita schiera di prodotti bisognosi di tempo per riuscire a completare la speciale missione di folgorazione. Da comprare a scatola chiusa se è ricercatezza, fuga dalla banalità e cura maniacale di ogni aspetto quello che si cerca (e la copertina contribuisce nel completare l'opera).

 

[Myklon_B]

OBSCURA

The Axis Of Perdition (from now on simply TAOP) have made up their name by successfully blend apocalyptic post-black metal with cold industrial metal-derived atmospheres, creating something hardly comparable with for intensity, sickness and claustrophobic feelings generated.
Hailing from UK their new album, 'Tenements' follows the path started with the first 'The Ichneumon Method' and does show pme interesting new features. First (and to my opinion, most relevant) is the use of a real drummer for the first time in TAOP's history: Dan Mullins has recorded all the drums parts and even if of course the style hasn't changed, you can feel some more humanity in the way the drums are played.
Second: although the chaotic song-writing hasn't changed (the trademark of this band, but it's rather a highly controlled chaos...) now we can see that each song is more linked to the others and to the general mood of the album itself. Everything is more majestic, sometimes pompous, vocals are tortured and yet interpretative, guitar work has apparently no sense, something like Emperor's last 'Prometheus' album.
In reality everything perfectly works here, assuming that you are willing to let your mind being blown and shacked a little by listening to this album. The choice is yours.

 

[Myklon_B]

DON'T COUNT ON IT

I can't remember what initially turned me on to the experimentalists in The Axis of Perdition, but I can remember the first time I listened to them. Back when 2009's "Urfe" was released, I can recall pressing play for the first time and just being blown away by how different it was compared to everything else I had heard. This new album might not be as avant-garde as the last one was, but from what I've heard of it before hand, it proves to be another new direction.
I'm afraid to say that the more industrial, more dark ambient elements that have really dominated the band's previous work is put back in the sound on this new album, I say I'm afraid to address any concerns people might have about this album, not my own mind you. This album features a more guitar oriented sound, with many more angular and twisted sounding riffs than ever before. Now, while the guitars are more at the front of the sound than before, the elements of dark ambient and industrial textures still remain in just that, textures and atmospheres that engulf this entire disc. I've heard comparisons to Deathspell Omega, and while the two share a similar sense in terms of creating dissonant, atmospheric riffs, The Axis of Perdition feature an almost English proggy sense to them that their French brethren do not have, hear a track like Sigils and Portents. You'll also hear the band's most melodic moments on a track like Ordained, in my opinion, one of the best album closer tracks this year.
For anyone that's actually made it through "Urfe," I believe that this will make much more sense, sonically anyway. The dark ambient, spoken word sound that dominated most of that album really gives way to the more chaotic feel on this one. Though, if you were hoping for another dose of brutal ambiance, The Dark Red Other should provide what you are looking for; but if a craving of brutality is what you want, the two opening tracks, besides the intro, Unveiled and Unbound should give you the fix you need. Later tracks express a more "heavy" sound through a denser atmosphere, in my opinion, and slower, and mid-paced riffs taking the place of the brutality that opened the album. I think this is what makes this album so powerful, the flow of the record really adds to the experience of it, it's not just a batch of songs that have nothing in common, this is a much more well-rounded album with highs and lows.
Overall, not that I had any doubts, this is a great album, definitely another notch for the band in terms of originality as well. It's hard for me to say this is a good starting point to start listening to the band, since none of their albums could be called easy listening, you really just have to jump head first in and try to make yourself comfortable. If you like experimental, atmospheric, industrial, progressive black metal and you like it to sound like it's crawling out of the sewers, look for this.
Overall Score: 9.5
Highlights: Every Track Is A Highlight

 

[Emi]

http://www.metal.de/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=46456

Mit ihrem letzten Werk, dem Mammutprojekt "Urfe", haben die Briten von THE AXIS OF PERDITION vor allem auch ihre Fans polarisiert. Es war eines dieser Alben, welches die eigene Anhängerschaft wie ein Skalpell spaltet. Der wüste, genrevernichtende Bastard aus Black Metal, Industrial, Avantgarde und Postmoderne (lange, bevor das innerhalb einer breiteren Szene en vogue war) wich auf der Urfe-Trilogie einer Art Ambient-Hörspiel. Unerhört! Ungehört - von Skeptikern wurde das Doppelalbum leider nie die verdiente Aufmerksamkeit entgegengebracht, denn dann hätten selbst die größten Kritiker entdecken müssen, dass THE AXIS OF PERDITION nur noch etwas konsequenter vorgegangen waren, als man das von ihnen erwartet hatte.​

Mit dem dritten Teil "Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh)" verhält sich das ganz ähnlich. Der Impuls der schwarzen, zerstörerischen Masse, den sie in Gang gesetzt haben, feuert uns nun wieder mit aller Wucht entgegen. In einem kurzen Intro werden noch leise Erinnerungen an die letzten, entscheidenden Szenen des Vorgängers wach", doch dann ist der Weg in den Abgrund frei und der Sound von "Deleted Scenes..." zurück. Wenig überraschend wurde die Musik bereits 2005 entwickelt, also genau zur gleichen Zeit, in der das Rost- und Giftüberzogene Krankenhaus seine Pforten öffnete.​

Verschrobener und fahriger Chaos Black Metal, rasend, dissonant und kalt, genauso lebensfeindlich und lichtverschlingend und bestens geeignet, die Lager unter den Fans wieder zusammenzuführen oder erneut zu splitten. Viele werden die Rückkehr zum vertrauten Klang, der auch von "The Ichneumon Method" nicht weit entfernt ist, begrüßen. Noch mehr als der kleine Ausflug in reine Dark Ambient Gefilde ("Dark Red Other") fallen die melodischen, klaren Gesangslinien auf. Harmonie in Disharmonie, beinahe so hymnisch wie die Feuergesänge von ANAAL NATHRAKH ("Ordained"), eine ganz eigene Sprache der Atmosphäre. THE AXIS OF PERDITION beherrschen gleich zwei davon, und nach "Urfe" bin ich mir nicht mehr so sicher, welche ihrer gespaltenen Zunge besser liegt.​

Zurück an vertrauten Ufern oder erneuter Aufbruch? "Awakenings" sorgt mit finsterem Augenzwinkern am Ende für leichte Zweifel am Eindruck, die Briten wären jetzt endlich wieder da, wo sie hingehören. Sie haben das Fahrwasser für Alben wie "Paracletus" bereitet, doch "Tenements" scheint mir eher wie ein kurzer Zwischenstopp, der ein flaues Gefühl im Magen hinterlässt. Ein packendes Album, aufwühlend, doch die innere Unruhe findet kein Ziel. Unbefriedigend? Warten wir darauf, was dort im Untergrund erwacht...​

 

[Myklon_B]

ARISTOCRAZIA WEBZINE

Dopo due anni dallo spiazzante e concettuale "Urfe", tornano gli inglesi The Axis Of Perdition con la conclusiva parte della traumatica storia, il cui nome è: "Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh)".
Se avete amato questo nome per la totale schizofrenia ed imprevedibilita' del suo riffing, per le sue alienazioni e per il sapore tremendo di ruggine e degrado che si manifestavano in forma musicale, posso tranquillamente dirvi che gli Axis Of Perdition sono tornati fra noi!

Certo i nostri non si dimenticano la lezione impartita con il precedente lavoro (vedasi l'introduttiva "The Sleeper"), in cui le ambientazioni Dark a base di tessuti campionati e linee sintetiche spadroneggiavano sulla voce narrante, solamente che qua le dette situazioni si votano allo sfondo, si limitano al drappeggio, lasciando libere di intorcigliarsi fra loro le deliranti e acide chitarre, su cui il ritorno di uno scream malsano si immerge per far riaffiorare squarci atonici per patologie mentali senza controllo, oppure panoramiche allucinate ad alto tasso mescalinico.

Se amate i TAOP gioirete di cio' che hanno realizzato, i ritmi tornano a essere piu' sparati (anche se va detto che non sono certamente ai livelli del loro esordio), la cosa che si aggiunge, è la maestria nel sapere miscelare cio' che fino ad adesso hanno saputo registrare nei precedenti capitoli, in vero con una produzione piu' chiara e meno cupa (pare di essere usciti da quel putrescente ospedale abbandonato), forse meno roboante per certi aspetti, ma che vitalizza l'isteria delle composizioni e degli arrangiamenti effettuati e pezzi come "Unbound" o "Disintegration" ne sono la prova evidente e lampante.
I ritmi selvaggi e sincopati vi avvolgeranno per la totalita' del lavoro, in un tessuto visionario, traumatico ed angosciante, l'assenza di confini prestabiliti sara' il limbo dove perdervi come nel caso di "The Flesh Spiral" o nella piu' meditata "The Changer"; anche la seguibile e per certi versi "Rock oriented" "Ordained" in cui linee dark metal fuoriescono in maniera inedita per questo progetto, ma in cui anche la melanconia melodica pare il velo di una fine oramai scritta, la cui unica immagine che mi viene in mente è l'insopportabile peso di un muro senza vie d'uscita dove al suo interno puo' rimbombare esclusivamente la propria paranoia.

Un ritorno piu' che gradito, che apre nuove vie d'esplorazione per il combo di Albione, quindi dedicato agli amanti di sonorita' Avantgarde o Post BM o per chiunque abbia a cuore la patologia musicale che questi folli sanno ricreare, è sicuramente un titolo da aggiungere alla lista della spesa...
...certo prima di tornarvene allegramente alle vostre tormentate psicopatie.

 

[Emi]

SPARK MAGAZINE - June 2011 - printed czech rep.

Po loňském moru v táboře DEATHSPELL OMEGA i čerstvě
propuknuvší epidemii u BLUT AUS NORD ochořela experimentálně
blacková scéna dalším virem, který stvrzuje, že
je to právě tento žánr (respektive jeho část), co nejlépe dokáže
metal infikovat zlověstností, nepříjemnými pocity a,
ano, odmítáním pozérství. Hudba THE AXIS OF PERDITION
vám duši nepolaská, ale o to více potěší tím, jak se pokouší
jít až na dřeň a jen tančit okolo.
Srovnání s BLUT AUS NORD (nalistujte si aktuální Spike)
má bezesporu svůj význam; i prázdnota pod hlavičkou „Tenements“
totiž vyvolává nesmírně tísnivé pocity. Jen za ní
nestojí tak suverénní naplnění metody. Náznaky zpěvnosti
si tolik nerozumí s experimentálním jádrem a diskutovat
můžeme též o zvuku, který spíše škodí tím, jak činí nahrávku
neprostupnou, zatímco v pozadí se zjevně děje leccos
zajímavého. A taky je za tím vším cítit více nucenosti než
v případě výše zmíněných.
I tak ale THE AXIS OF PERDITION umně využívají
blackových propriet k vytváření hrozivé atmosféry,
již zahušťují i industriálními a darkambientními
plochami, které však tentokrát spíše ustoupily. Jádro
desky je v zásadě velice primitivní, avšak její
dynamika, proplétání bezpočtu nápadů i pohrávání
s detaily dělají z jejího poslechu nesmírně depresivní
zkušenost. V post-apokalyptickém světě
THE AXIS OF PERDITION nejde ani tak o zdevastovanou
krajinu jako rovnou o úpadek lidství.

Viktor Palák 5/6

 

[Emi]

http://obscuraweb.wordpress.com/2011/05/21/the-axis-of-perdition-tenements-of-the-anointed-flesh/

The Axis Of Perdition (from now on simply TAOP) have made up their name by successfully blend apocalyptic post-black metal with cold industrial metal-derived atmospheres, creating something hardly comparable with for intensity, sickness and claustrophobic feelings generated.
Hailing from UK their new album, ‘Tenements’ follows the path started with the first ‘The Ichneumon Method’ and does show pme interesting new features. First (and to my opinion, most relevant) is the use of a real drummer for the first time in TAOP’s history: Dan Mullins has recorded all the drums parts and even if of course the style hasn’t changed, you can feel some more humanity in the way the drums are played.Second: although the chaotic song-writing hasn’t changed (the trademark of this band, but it’s rather a highly controlled chaos…) now we can see that each song is more linked to the others and to the general mood of the album itself. Everything is more majestic, sometimes pompous, vocals are tortured and yet interpretative, guitar work has apparently no sense, something like Emperor‘s last ‘Prometheus’ album.
In reality everything perfectly works here, assuming that you are willing to let your mind being blown and shacked a little by listening to this album. The choice is yours.

 

[Emi]

http://www.metalpsalter.com/review_the_axis_of_perdition_tenements.html

From the very moment the music begins on The Axis of Perdition’s latest release titled Tenements (of the Anointed Flesh) the overall aura is one of intense heaviness in the air. The darkness surrounding this album is some of the finest I’ve heard incorporated into a band’s sound in some time. It seems the U.K. now has an added notch to its already impressive black-ambient roster right up there with Fen, though far more sinister.

Without coming off as elemental for design’s sake, Tenements delivers a harsh, mentally disheveled look at the inner workings of a ravaged psyche. The tumultuousness of the music here is undeniably brilliant, as is the tonal despair captured so intently in tracks like “Unveiled”, which is as tempestuous as it is melodic in its bleakness. There are times where vocalist/guitarist Brooke Johnson sounds a bit like a later Ihsahn without the high pitches found in Emperor; the clear, yet discernable delivery is a highlight for me, not to mention the powering gruffness that usually gives way to the mundane and predictability of the typical black metal screeching. I hear some pieces of industrial music interspersed throughout the tracks, but the general feeling of depressiveness isn’t just by way of the tonality of the music but rather the crafting and issuance of it as a whole.

The one thing of note about Tenements is that the typical metal fan might not ‘get’ the music here; that is to say the frame of thought and mindset has to be just right to fully appreciate and consume this album. The chords from the guitars are, quite literally, communal with the utter lack of cheer on this record. While not a depressive jaunt by any means, a song like “The Flesh” simply isn’t able to be tagged or reduced to typical reviewer’s witless jargon; “Dark Red Other” seems to stop the fast-moving vehicle in an instant to throw a sardonic wrench into the setting as horror-filled sounds emerge through the din that callously play havoc with the listener’s brain, delivering a feeling of dread and even being watched. It’s a wonderfully useful and timely device that is usually either overdone or ignored completely for more screaming wails or detuned guitar noise. Sometimes less is certainly more. “The Changer” then follows the slower, more desperate line and crawls into the ears like a night bug that burrows into the wax and lies there until its death or human discomfort forces a response. It’s simply that good and these are just a couple of examples.

This album bounces between black metal and industrialized arrangements so evenly that the line is nearly untraceable, and it will impress even the most dedicated fan of ether movement. This album is by no means a ‘light’ album and should not be underestimated or devalued as just another black-ambient record that will be lost in the mire that is the genre.

Those that are already familiar with this band will need no further accolades to secure their interest, but if you are a newbie and a fan of solo Ihsahn’s sound, but harsher and with some very sadistic overtones playing with your emotional center, then certainly check out The Axis of Perdition’s back catalog as well as Tenements because they know full well how to completely eradicate the light from inside.