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Swallowed - Lunarterial review




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Reviewer:
9.0

29 users:
7.79
Band: Swallowed
Album: Lunarterial
Release date: October 2014


01. Opening Of The Key
02. Reverence Through Darkness
03. Arterial Mists Of Doom
04. Black Aura
05. Black Phlegm
06. Libations

The lights go out and you are quickly enshrouded in darkness. A frigid mist fills the room as all familiar surroundings fade into the growing fog, leaving you in a desolate foreign landscape. You desperately search for a sign of humanity's existence to no avail. Lunarterial is a world of suffering from which you cannot escape.

Swallowed's form of death metal is one so cavernous and so hellish it is akin to a torturous lashing. Lunarterial is the band's debut full length, yet it comes across as a mature and natural recording. Incorporating the riffing styles of 90's death metal but with an abstract take on song structures and direction, the album comes off as familiar yet unique. To further embellish the maniacal destruction, Swallowed incorporate a striking blend of production styles, with a raw edge on the guitars' tonalities, but a dense and grimy take on layering of instrumentation.

Each song flows into one another seamlessly, and it seems Swallowed simply gave up on separating each track by the end of the album, as the 50 minute endeavor is closed by a colossal 25 minute (that's right half of the album) monster. The album is best experienced as a whole, with the band progressing through a range of styles including black infused death metal to pure death doom riffing. Cutting out early from listening to this magnificent journey would not expose the listener to the full arsenal of Swallowed's torture-tools.

The riffs themselves do not seem to adhere to any predetermined stylistic structure, but rather take elements from old school death metal, modern funeral, and death-doom, to manifest a horrific beast. Haunting melodies creep into your skin causing you to shiver and sweat, while unconventional beats add another layer to the unique skills Swallowed possess. They play out riffs like a dying man clinging to life, building a dreadful suspense that is let loose in a barrage of dissonant chaos, repeating this process until the listener is left weary and lacking the will to go on.

To come this far without even mentioning the vocals should be a crime, as they are possibly the most vile part of the album. Ranging from manic whispers into the abyss to full on shrieks, growls, and screams, a demon is birthed into the world. Following the patterns of the riffing, and straying from conventional structure, the echoes of suffering ring in your ears in an impressively vivid manner.

While the descriptions can most closely be related to those of torture and agony, Lunarterial is a one-of-a-kind experience that will leave you yearning for more. Like masochistic tendencies, the pain will become addicting, and if the modern wave of cavernous death metal has you even remotely interested, you will definitely find enjoyment from the behemoth of a recording that is Lunarterial.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 10
Originality: 8
Production: 9

Written by Alex F | 14.12.2014




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 10   Visited by: 75 users
15.12.2014 - 13:04
Rating: 8
musclassia

I must admit I wasn't particularly interested by the shorter songs in the first half of the album, but 'Libations' is a great mix of the old-school death sound with other extreme metal tendencies in a monster of a song. Nice pick and a very nicely written review.
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15.12.2014 - 15:29
Rating: 9
mz

Would personally rate it a little lower but I agree with everything you've said. Fucking unbelievable how good DD Records has been this year.
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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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15.12.2014 - 22:32
Rating: 9
Alex F
Slick Dick Rick
Written by musclassia on 15.12.2014 at 13:04

I must admit I wasn't particularly interested by the shorter songs in the first half of the album, but 'Libations' is a great mix of the old-school death sound with other extreme metal tendencies in a monster of a song. Nice pick and a very nicely written review.

Libations certainly is the best part of this album, and thanks for the compliments! Glad some people are sharing in my immense enjoyment for this album.
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15.12.2014 - 23:47
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Libations is awesome and beyond...
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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24.12.2014 - 15:11
Rating: 9
Alex F
Slick Dick Rick
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 15.12.2014 at 23:47

Libations is awesome and beyond...

Definitely the best track I've heard all year, but there is a small group of albums released in 2014 that I would say beat Lunarterial by a small margin
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24.12.2014 - 15:13
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Alex F on 24.12.2014 at 15:11

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 15.12.2014 at 23:47

Libations is awesome and beyond...

Definitely the best track I've heard all year, but there is a small group of albums released in 2014 that I would say beat Lunarterial by a small margin



Looking at my end of year list five albums beat Swallowed.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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24.12.2014 - 15:14
Rating: 9
Alex F
Slick Dick Rick
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 24.12.2014 at 15:13

Looking at my end of year list five albums beat Swallowed.

Exact same number for me, although I suspect your five are quite different from mine. At any rate, Lunarterial is pretty much a brilliant album (as I clearly believe)
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24.12.2014 - 15:16
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Alex F on 24.12.2014 at 15:14


Exact same number for me, although I suspect your five are quite different from mine. At any rate, Lunarterial is pretty much a brilliant album (as I clearly believe)


I put my top 20 for this year in my profile, so have a look and see. I also put it up on Facebook earlier in the week.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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25.12.2014 - 02:51
Rating: 9
mz

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 24.12.2014 at 15:16

Written by Alex F on 24.12.2014 at 15:14


Exact same number for me, although I suspect your five are quite different from mine. At any rate, Lunarterial is pretty much a brilliant album (as I clearly believe)

I put my top 20 for this year in my profile, so have a look and see. I also put it up on Facebook earlier in the week.


So, a good year for death metal huh?
I also find most of the albums on your list to be very good. Glad to see that there ate others who think execration album was briliant. The only odd choise is sacrad white noise record. Not liking it at all
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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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25.12.2014 - 16:14
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Good year for death metal, but not a patch on last year, bar Emptiness.
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