Band:	An Axis Of Perdition
Album:	Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh)
Style:	Industrial black metal
Release date:	May 02, 2011
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. The Sleeper
02. Unveiled
03. Unbound
04. Sigils And Portents
05. The Flesh Spiral
06. Dark Red Other
07. The Changer
08. Disintegration
09. Ordained
10. Awakenings

Paranoia, disorder, disharmony, chaos; The Axis Of Perdition started moving once again towards unknown mental constellations. The Ichneumon Method (And Less Welcome Techniques) and Deleted Scenes From The Transition Hospital had their very own vibes of lunacy and horror and succeeded into proposing a mechanical asylum devastation upon the black metal scene. To many, Urfe was too much to handle. To a few demented minds (including mine) it was brilliant, a wireless spoken word transition from the core of your torn conscience; and loving Rozz Williams' personal releases made me appreciate it even more. Two years later the moment arrived for Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh) to find a nauseating tenant.

So, concerning the fourth The Axis Of Perdition full-length attempt I have to say that it's their most structured and concrete, but still lurking in the realms of abstract, work to date. It's less cinematic than its predecessors and more dominant in terms of instrumentation. Odd key signatures and disturbing (in a good manner of speaking) sharp or more organic anti-melodies flood the compositions. The guitars are filled with anxiety and distress whereas the drumming possesses a wide variety of tempos and techniques that can change drastically any moment even during the same composition. The obnoxious effects, choir-like keyboards and sequences fume the place like slowly expanding chemicals and the lunatic screams or epileptic singing/shouting get in charge to ruin. A spherical perception concerning the album is the following: "The Sleeper" opens up gently and then from "Unveiled" to "Disintegration" insanity reigns supreme to finally reach a moment of clarity with the introvert epic nature of "Ordained". Yet, "Awakening" throws you back into reality; and it's not the most pleasant place to be.

Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh) isn't perfect though. The production ails, it balances somewhere in the center and suffocates the "suburbs" whereas in their first releases it had a more centrifugal leaning towards the overall surrounding atmosphere. This means it may not be that good cause the album may sound a bit monotonous at times. Still, the production could have been a bit more powerful and not swallowing and choking to an extent the energy of the compositions. Inspiration isn't that great either this time, I mean, it's apparent, a lot, but not all the time (plus the monotonous vibe and the too many Deathspell Omega references).

Tenements (Of The Anointed Flesh) is a parasite in the shape of a host, misleading, ravenous, an infectious derivative of a failed vaccine. Although it requires a few spins to sense the (side) effects, it's not their best release so far. I prefer their previous works, but I wasn't that disappointed either, it's a decent work and despite it may not please all the fans of their 2003-2005 era, it will definitely appeal to a welcome amount of citizens of dystopia.