Effluence - Pianistic Dismemberment - review
Effluence - Pianistic Dismemberment - review
Tracklist
01. Intro02. GbAbbGEbEbbDABbbFDbbE GbbBbbDbAbEbbEbAGbEC
03. EbbEBbbDbbBbGbFDbCAbEbGbbA
04. AGbbBbbEbbEbGbCAbbAb GbbGEbbCAbFGbAbb AbbDbEGbDbbFEbbEb
05. CEbEDAFBEbbAbbDbGbbDbbBbAbb
06. CGbbEbAbDEbbE GbDbbDbAFEbEbbBbbE
07. GbbEEbbDbGbAbDbbAbbAbG
08. EFAbBEbGbGGbbDbb BbbEAbEbbBEbADbb BGbFGAbbDbCEbAbBbbDEADbb
A review by
Roman Doez March 26, 2025
While I have greatly enjoyed Effluence's numerous releases over the past few years, they have become a little repetitive. And after the nth iteration of “ultra chaotic brutal death metal”, I started wondering where the project was heading. Pianistic Dismemberment aims to really shake things up by removing the guitars altogether and making the piano a more prominent part of their sound. The piano was already one of the things that really drew me to Effluence in the first place, with the great Ballistic Bloodspray EP, which made me very excited to find out what Pianistic Dismemberment would sound like.
Although metal without guitars is nothing new, even within brutal death metal (with Neoandertals doing that very thing as far back as 2007), this piano gives a very unique edge to Effluence's sound. It alternates between a regular piano sound and being so distorted you can barely understand what instrument you are listening to. And I have to admit, this ultra-distorted piano is a bit of a disappointment for me as I was really expecting a regular piano to be the main instrument here. This distorted piano does not sound particularly good, and it took me some time to get accustomed to it. While it doesn’t bother me as much anymore, it still is the weakest part of the album for me.
When it comes to song structure, things do not deviate from the usual Effluence mold, with most of the album being chaotic with no real logical progression or harmony or anything you would expect in a regular album, really. It is anti-music through and through, except for the final track. Clocking in at eight minutes, it offers a few more standard piano sections to keep the tension of the piece while breaking up the chaos. For that reason alone, it really stands out.
What really shines through Pianistic Dismemberment is how much fun Matt must have had recording it. It is senseless chaos interrupted by someone smashing every key on a piano; it legitimately made me chuckle a few times (the end of track 5 especially). The Bandcamp page for the album states that there are “NO GUITARS ON THIS ALBUM...'CAUSE PIANO ATE EM :[“ and that the money the album makes will go “towards replacing the guitars that were eaten by Piano”. The goal of the album is to be as absurd as possible. It’s the most extreme type of music pushed to its absolute limits. It is very openly silly, and if you are open to that kind of fun, it is a worthwhile listen.
Alas, my dream of a “Neoandertals with piano” remains unfulfilled for the moment, but Pianistic Dismemberment is a good addition to Effluence's discography. If you are fond of their usual madness and can stomach the sound of distorted piano for 30 minutes, you will certainly have a good time. And for the first time, I truly have no idea where Matt will take this project in the future. It might sound bad, it will be weird, but it will at least be fun and memorable.
Written on 26.03.2025 by
Written on 26.03.2025 by
It's not good music if it doesn't give you a headache Comments
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The penultimate paragraph says almost all one needs to know before playing this album. Borderline unlistenable for most people, I reckon, but still a worthwhile listen. Radu even begged them not to release a full-length when he wrote about Ballistic Bloodspray back in 2021 for the Clandestine Cuts, and the comments there proved that the band was fairly indigestible to most. That piano must have had a voracious appetite.
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Posts: 4555
Best of luck announcing these tracks live on stage.
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