Band:	Plasmodium
Album:	Entheognosis
Style:	Black metal, Experimental death metal
Release date:	July 17, 2016
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Limbic Dissasociation
02. Reformoculus
03. Hermaphrodisiac
04. Deuteromitosis

The early months of a new year are an opportunity not only to discover new music from that year, but to go back to the previous year and unearth albums you overlooked as well. Most of what you find are typically average to mediocre releases, but every now and then, through digging, you find a few gems. Gems like Plasmodium.

"Undulating psychedelic darkness." That's how the Australians in Plasmodium describe their sound on their Bandcamp page, and it's a label not to be taken lightly. What we have here on their Entheognosis debut is an imposing, colossal maelstrom of death metal, black metal, and psychedelia. Fans of the more "swirling vortex" brands of any of those three genres will be right at home with this one, as frantic, chaotic riffs surge forth from beyond the event horizon, boosted up by an absolutely delicious, trippy atmosphere of crisp bass, whooshing keyboard effects, and meditative, chant-like vocals. If you're not already in awe by the time you finish the massive opener that is "Limbic Disassociation," you may need to have your ears examined.

Entheognosis is, boiling down to it, a lesson in sonic experimentation, and as such, the music twists and turns through its three primary influences in bold, often unexpected ways. Sometimes you'll be getting lost in Plasmodium's more spacious, relaxing elements, as on "Deuteromitosis," and then BOOM!, that crazy black metal riffage and those nasty blast beats will start creeping up from the shadows, eventually exploding in a violent, albeit highly unusual barrage. For some, this blend of sounds and the transitions from one to the next may feel a bit messy, but part of what makes Plasmodium such a fun listen is that there's a feeling with them that the music is always about to go over the brink but doesn't, a "controlled chaos" type vibe of it threatening to go off the tracks but nonetheless never ceasing to be guided by some powerful, invisible hand.

The highly idiosyncratic nature of Plasmodium's music makes them extremely difficult to compare to their contemporaries. You could probably draw a good connection between them and the Frenchies in Chaos Ech?s, but even this isn't entirely fair, as something about the music on Entheognosis truly does have a distinct tinge all its own. It seriously must be stressed that this album is a real epitome of the "fuck the rules" principle, one that charges into the unknown headfirst and simply refuses to look back from there. Those who enjoy extreme metal that pushes the envelope simply must give this a listen, as Plasmodium don't just push it, they tear right through it and laugh as it burns.

Sounds enticing? You know where to go.