Altar Of Plagues - Teethed Glory & Injury review
| Band: | Altar Of Plagues |
| Album: | Teethed Glory & Injury |
| Style: | Black metal, Post-metal |
| Release date: | April 30, 2013 |
| Guest review by: | tea[m]ster |
01. Mills
02. God Alone
03. A Body Shrouded
04. Burnt Year
05. A Remedy And A Fever
06. Twelve Was Ruin
07. Scald Scar Of Water
08. Found, Oval And Final
09. Reflection Pulse Remains
grower [ˈgrəʊə]
n
1. (Music / Pop Music) a piece of music that is initially unimpressive but becomes more enjoyable after further hearings
After listening to this for half a year I cannot remember a release making such an abrupt 180 degree turn for the better like Altar Of Plagues final album Teethed Glory & Injury. I have dabbled in post-black metal before but my black metal has to be the "light" variety because music tagged with "black" is met with cynicism and hesitation. Alcest and Fen have helped me overcome some of my fears and now Altar Of Plagues can take its place along their side because of consummate use of post-metal guitar textures and arrangements, calm and tranquil yet dark and thick ambient interludes and peerless even flow on a post-metal record.
Of course those post-metal aspects is what enamors me about Teethed Glory & Injury. However, the black metal ingredients do not overshadow the post facets of the songs. Conveniently they are cohesive and working as one. Burst beat drumming, shrieking, screaming vocals and dense, impenetrable layers of heavy bass and guitar overlay songs that can easily be concurred or confused with music from the industrial, avant-garde, and experimental genres. The songs are really more of an expression of ideas rather than anything resembling structured, riff-orientated compositions. Using shorter songs to exhibit this form of ingenuity, it's new territory for Altar Of Plagues and I thoroughly enjoy the bravado.
The album really is a tough listen. You will either get it or not. The songs may come across as abrasive or even yet, have no direction or flow. At first listen I wasn't too sure, after 20 more I am convinced this is the greatest piece of art I have listened to in 2013 and an excellent finale to Altar Of Plagues' career. With each play their stylistic approach and risk-taking on this album has come before me to discover something disguised and raised my level of awareness for other post-black metal acts. Bring them on.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 10 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by tea[m]ster | 03.12.2013
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 9
Visited by: 126 users
| Erik M. Posts: 3104  |
You gave it a 9.4 and rated it a 10? That's inconsistent.  Sorry, just noticed that. Have been meaning to check out this album for a while now but still haven't done so, don't know why.  Btw, would you consider this band more post or more black? If you had to choose one... I'm not sure from what I've heard so far. In any case, nice review. 
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| tea[m]ster Au Pays Natal Contributor Posts: 5266  |
Written by Erik M. on 03.12.2013 at 21:05 It's very hard for me to give out "pure" 10's. I wish there was a tenth place when rating albums in our collections, instead I usually round up. I consider this more black than post.
---- rekt
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| Erik M. Posts: 3104 |
Written by tea[m]ster on 04.12.2013 at 00:17 I understand that. Not a single album I've heard deserves a true 10.0. A 9.9 (well, actually a 9.94  ) is as high as I'll go. I'm only saying a 9.4 simply cannot be rounded up to a 10. If you actually gave this a 9.5 in the review I wouldn't have said anything because a 9.5 can be rounded up to a 10. But I'll now stop breaking your balls. And thanks for the answer. I asked this because I wanted to know where to put this band's debut in my list. I already put it in the "black" section so I don't have to change it now.
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| Diverge Posts: 1334 |
Hey thanks for the great review. This is one of the biggest albums that I missed in 2013 and this review brought the album to my attention.  I tend to sympathize with almost everything you say here.
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| angelofbland Posts: 20 |
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| angel. Evil Butterfly Posts: 2419  |
Now that I read this awesome review I think I have missed a great album from 2013
---- The Fangirl.
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| tea[m]ster Au Pays Natal Contributor Posts: 5266 |
Written by angel. on 10.03.2014 at 16:13 Keep an open mind. At first you may be like "What the hell is this jumbled mess?" After a few listens, everything works out and makes sense.
---- rekt
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| sgtrobo Posts: 590  |
'grower' is the way to describe it. I considered it...a jumbled mess (as tea[m]ster mentioned), but with each successive listen it grew on me more and more. now it's one of my 10 favorite BM albums of all time, and easily in my top 25 metal albums all time
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