Band:	Schammasch
Album:	The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite
Style:	Black metal, Death metal
Release date:	June 09, 2017
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Prologue
02. The Weighty Burden Of An Eternal Secret
03. Along The Road That Leads To Bedlam
04. These Tresses Are Sacred
05. May His Illusion Last Until Dawn's Awakening
06. Chimerical Hope
07. Do Not Open Your Eyes

When bands that have won themselves a sizable following through the employment of a certain sound suddenly change their sound radically with a new release and piss off a good portion of their fanbase, I love it. Why? Because it shows the band in question doesn't care about pleasing fans by recycling a certain formula, and that a lot of fans are a lot less about "let the band do what they want" than they'd lead you to believe. This is inevitably going to be the case with this new EP from Schammasch.

Thus far, I've found the sound of Schammasch up until now to be "good but not great," as the band certainly do have a commendable formula going for them, but one that always seemed to feel as if it was missing something to me, something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. But Triangle, the triple album the band released last year, changed this significantly. The first two discs were good but nothing mindblowing, but the third one was different, as it saw the band going for an immersive, highly intriguing dark ambient approach, abandoning their fusion of black and death metal almost entirely. I enjoyed it immensely, but there was nonetheless a worry in the back of my head. Was this third disc a one off occasion? Or a new approach the band would continue to explore?

The Maldodor Chants: Hermaphrodite answers this question, and thankfully, Schammasch have chosen to go deeper into this droney, more ambient-oriented sound. The new approach is very formless and highly percussion driven, a favorite of mine when it comes to the drone genre, conjuring some thoughts of some other bands out there such as Æthenor or Alone In The Hollow Garden. Though mostly instrumental, vocals have not been abandoned, but are now simply applied in a more sustained, chant-like fashion. Metal has not been abandoned here entirely either, but this aspect of the music has now morphed into a more monotonous, repetitive delivery. Or, occasionally, as on "The Weighty Burden Of An Eternal Secret," you may hear a bit of guitar drenched in that signature black metal tone dropping a note here and there in the background, for a sort of minimalistic, psychedelic type of effect. The track "Chimerical Hope" is also noteworthy for being the only moment on this EP in which Schammasch tap into some of their previous uptempo, more metal oriented elements. While not a bad cut, it does nonetheless feel a little out of place among the more meditative, ritualistic nature of the rest of this EP, and probably would have fit better on one of the first two discs from Triangle.

To say that Schammasch have spiked my interest and won a huge amount of respect from me with The Maldodor Chants: Hermaphrodite would be a major understatement. At the risk of sounding elitist, allow me to say that this is what real artistry is all about: not staying grounded in one area for long, and being courageous enough to charge into the unknown, smashing down whatever walls stand in your way. As with other albums from bands that have come as a major curveball, such as Celestite from Wolves In The Throne Room, or Not For Music from Emptiness, this EP will no doubt come as a bit polarizing for Schammasch's fanbase. Nonetheless, it was announced by the band shortly before they dropped this release that "The Maldodor Chants" would be a series of offerings, implying that this one is merely the first installation in a common theme. I think it goes without saying at this point that I'm looking forward to what's next in this bold and curious new chapter in the history of Schammasch.

A new saga begins.