Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism

Adversarial

I think the album cover does a very good job at describing the sound of […]
By Te Hao Boon
August 3, 2015
Adversarial - Death

I think the album cover does a very good job at describing the sound of this album. You know it is a demonic figure holding a scepter and an upside down cross, but what are the details? Is the scepter stained with blood, how does the demon look like, where is it? In the same vein, you get the general picture with the album but you don't get much after that mainly due to the production level and rather uninspiring playing. The vibe this album gives me is the band only has 10 minutes left in the recording studio, so they decide to rush everything. And they only have 2 microphones for all the instruments and vocals.

The snare in this album sounds like someone taking a spatula and smacking the life out of a cardboard box. That's all I have to say. Alright, I have to talk about more stuff. Alright, here I go.

"Immersion Void Paragon" sounds like someone driving a monster truck down a really rocky road while fanning the summer heat off his face, that is until I cranked the volume to 11 (IT GOES TO 11!) just to hear the intricacies.

I can feel from the intensity that perhaps the musicians are hitting and strumming so hard that their fingers could be bleeding by the end of the session (Whiplash, anyone?), but the production really took a big bite off the intensity. It made the sound became one big blob of blur, I could occasionally hear a nice guitar wail, but I can barely hear the rhythm guitar's melody.

On "Interlude", I can hear sirens, gunshots, fire sparks and somebody talking with a lot of echo. I am not scared in anyway, however the sound of the fire sparkles are so loud it sounds almost like someone is panfrying a dory fillet while an ambulance is going past his house. This can be easily remedied by putting more emphasis on the gun shots, sirens and perhaps add some vocal effect in it.

Generally, this album is filled with generic Death Metal elements and it can be painfully repetitive. It doesn't help that the production makes most track sound the same. "Cursed Blades Cast Upon the Slavescum of Christ" is my favorite track in this album, I can hear some Punk element in it and it is a good way to continue after "Interlude", a different track is what it is and that's exactly what this album lacks; Surprises. This album was made to be listened to in a single goal with its continuation of riffs and concepts from one track to the other, but I just can't get myself to sit through it without getting bored of its repetition. However, people who like concept albums should check this out and see if this is to your liking.<

4 / 10

Nothing special

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"Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism" Track-listing:

1. Dissenting the Waking Shell
2. Intro
3. Immersion Void Paragon
4. Eonik Spiritual Warfare
5. Interlude
6. Cursed Blades Cast Upon the Slavescum of Christ
7. Old Ruins Slumber in a Crushing Hatred of Man
8. Lone Wresting Hymns to the Warmoon of Chaos
9. Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism

Adversarial Lineup:

M.M. - Bass
E.K. - Drums
C.S. - Guitars, Vocals

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