Formed just this year in Portugal and Romania, Avant-Garde Black Metal band ATRATE present their debut album here titled "On The Verge Of What We Belong To." The album contains seven songs, and "Intrusive Axiom" is the first. It's short, one-minute mood setter. The mood is dark and brooding, and the vocals are horrid guttural utterances. "Waning Remnants" is the first proper track. It's muddy and slow, with harrowing elements. Not totally like other Black Metal albums, it features some Doomy elements also. Dare I even say some Progressive elements as well? It seems that way, although the sounds are pretty dissonant and somewhat chaotic.

"Self-replicating Heralds of Malarkey" is another dark, evil, and dissonant number keying on the discord in the guitars for the most part. It descends into chaos shortly thereafter, and the guitars almost seem like they are playing parts that don't match with the music. Avant-Garde, indeed. "The Amaurotic Sons of Aporia" is another discordant offering where they guitars seem to lift off the page and fly into space, while the other instruments are trying to keep the sound grounded on the earth. The vocals barely fit in as well, nor does the percussionist, almost keeping his own beats.

"Skin Limited" is slightly more linear in nature. Cymbals crash all around you, as the eerie guitar leads combine with horrid vocals to create a landscape of barren nothingness. It's almost as if the world has no meaning, no direction, and no purpose. Literally, nothing matters. "Ekpyrotic Visions" is a shorter and faster song, where the rolling drums blot out nearly everything else. The guitars diddle away, almost as if they didn't have the score in front of them and are just playing random notes that may or may not makes sense.

"Deracinated Humanocentrism" closes the album...a song title that aptly describes the nearly senseless music on the album. The biggest concern I have with the album is not much of the music just doesn't make sense. Sure, it's Avant-Garde, but still. You need at least a baseline starting point before you make your vision come to life. This sounds like it is still in the planning stages, and for these reasons, I think you can safely skip this.