Mare Cognitum - Solar Paroxysm - review
Mare Cognitum - Solar Paroxysm - review
Tracklist
01. Antaresian02. Frozen Star Divinization
03. Terra Requiem
04. Luminous Accretion
05. Ataraxia Tunnels
A review by
BitterCOld March 23, 2021
Solar Paroxysm (Paroxysm is defined as a sudden attack or violent expression. The more you know!) blasts off right away with back-to-back burners "Antaresian" and "Frozen Star Divinization". Both are escape velocity tracks, blazing fast to grab the listener's attention by the throat and ear holes.
The primary core of the music is the juxtaposition of a rampaging undercurrent of furious riffing and tikka-tikka-tikka "playing card in the spokes of a bicycle" drumming. Over this foundation glides tremolo-picked sweeping hummable guitar melodies that are a lot easier on the ears. The combination is a nice pairing that has worked for black metal since Zephyrous was still hanging out with Fenriz and Nocturno Teddo in Darkthrone. MC also toss in a few downtempo bars with thrashier chugga-chugga riffs to destroy any thoughts of impending monotony.
Vocals are fairly standard BM fare: rasped, reverbed and buried amidst the frenetic tikka-tikka-tikka's and riffing. Some variance is tossed in later with deep growls and roars, often paired and overlapping one another. Honestly, while nothing unique, it does work well.
After the quick one-two punch of the opener, Mare Cognitum slow it down to doom-ish speed with "Terra Requiem", which is great for showcasing both his creative depth - he's not a one-trick pony - and acts as a great downshift for the listener as well. Keeps things from getting stale. And if you think slow is boring, not to worry, MC stomp the gas pedal for the remaining pair of barnburners.
As for creative depth, Jacob Buczarski has serious chops and pretty much every track sees him soloing over the second half, a mix of some more traditional shreddery combined with measures that see him doing explorations vaguely reminiscent of Krallice.
Most of the time when reviewing something on 2nd or 3rd listen, words, structures and themes start to crystallize and take shape. With this one, it has been one of those albums I have had a difficult time pounding out words to adequately describe. So, this means rather than the normal 7-10 listens an album might get over a week, I've orbited around this one closer to 20 times. Words have been difficult to come by, but at no time during this process has the notion of pressing "play" filled me with dread. I've enjoyed each spin. So clearly that says more about the quality of the album than my failed attempts at wordplay and lack of ability to come up with food metaphors or whatever.
Frozen Bandcamp Divinizations.
*Love using Oort Cloud in reviews, combining with a brew in a review is just double-win.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written on 23.03.2021 by
Written on 23.03.2021 by
BitterCOld has been officially reviewing albums for MetalStorm since 2009. Comments
Comments:
16
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 Posts: 9641 |
Posts: 9641
Do love some tikka-tikka-tikka once in a while
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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Posts: 8699 Written by RaduP on 23.03.2021 at 18:52 Reminds me of Bill Burr describing Tomas Haake's drumming for some reason the album is really solid, on first listen those tremolo guitar melodies really stood out. I went into last year's MC/Spectral Lore collab more interested in Spectral Lore, but between MC's songs on that record and each project's releases from this year, I'm finding myself arguably more impressed by Mare Cognitum at the moment
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Posts: 64537
Will listen this soon, but what I like here is a fact that craft beer was mentioned here  Good craft beer always works for me, and good music.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 545  |
Posts: 545
Addictive album, lots easier to digest then the massive collab/split
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Posts: 3472
'A one-man black metal project with a Latin name could be a huge warning sign.' I don't get it.
---- "I'm here to nunchuck and not wear helmets. And I'm all out of helmets." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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Posts: 15360 Written by M C Vice on 24.03.2021 at 09:15 The combo just screams pretentious ego project where ego and ambition vastly exceed ability.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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It is a pretty good meloblack album and much more digestible than the collab with Spectral Lore as The Entity above me said, but I miss the atmosphere of Phobos Monolith. The tikka-tikka drums do my head in, as always with these projects. The only tikka I enjoy is the tikka masala; for drumming I need something a lot more creative.
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Posts: 3472 Written by BitterCOld on 24.03.2021 at 14:51 Oh. Thanks.
---- "I'm here to nunchuck and not wear helmets. And I'm all out of helmets." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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Posts: 3554  |
Posts: 3554
Haven't listened to Mare Cognitum since their 2014 album (which I remember enjoying), so I guess I should check this out. Nice review BC.
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Posts: 7944
Great review. I've seen your reviews developing more space-oriented metaphors. Following NASA or Neil deGrasse?
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Posts: 15360 Written by Cynic Metalhead on 29.03.2021 at 09:19 I took some Astronomy in college back when Pluto was still a planet, watched the original The Universe on History and have always had a passing interest, but this one is just space themed. The band name itself is a reference to a specific mare on the surface of the moon. Solar in album title. Band is from Portland and my last time there I stayed maybe .5km from Elliptic, a space theme craft brewery. I guess the metaphor comes from the music itself in other cases. With Sleestak I feel like I'm just floating around the solar system. Where I to review Darkspace, I'd liken it to not a chill ride, but being sucked into the void of a singularity.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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Posts: 8291 Written by BitterCOld on 29.03.2021 at 15:52  Pluto will always be a planet in our hearts.
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