Album Type : Full Length
Date Released : 26/4/2013
Label : Cyclone Empire
Symmetry Of Our Plagued Existence, album tracklisting:
1. CHAPTER XXIII 12:23
2. TREE OF
INIQUITY 8:36
3. THE ART
OF DESPAIR 10:57
4. THE
GLORIOUS DECEIT 11:41
5. THOSE
LEFT BEHIND
Bio:
VICTIMS OF CREATION is a Maltese band, was
conceived in 1992 and debuted on stage in 1994 supporting local band Oblique
Visions on the launch of their debut CD.
In 1996, the
song 'Lotions & Potions (Toke 1)' was included in 'The Core of Creation', a
local compilation released by Storm Records. The song did not reflect the
band’s style at the time, however, it was very well acclaimed specifically for
its originality. The launch of this compilation was the second and last gig of
the band for some time.
Turbulent
times, unlucky circumstances and various set-backs saw Dino and Rex (the
remaining founding members of the band) experimenting with different guitarists
during sporadic jams. It seemed that VICTIMS OF CREATION would never rise from
the ashes.
This was
until AJ Burd, a guitarist who played with Rex and Dino in Death-metal band
Lithomancy and also an interesting project called Tree, became the band’s new
guitarist. Material from the Tree project together with some of the old
material from VICTIMS OF CREATION was revived.
Daniel
Bartolo, the man behind the one-man stoner-rock project Daredevil, as well as
guitarist for a stoner/sludge/Doom project Rex and Dino have with the name of
Griffin Device, was recruited as the second guitarist of the band to complete
the current line-up.
2009 saw
VICTIMS OF CREATION’s comeback on stage after 13 years! This was prompted by an
invitation to the first edition of the Malta Doom Metal festival (MDM).
The
exceptional response to VICTIMS OF CREATION’s performance injected new life
into the band. A series of gigs followed and the band was also reconfirmed in
both the following editions of the ever growing MDM festival which features
both local and foreign ‘heavy-weight’ acts.
Line-Up:
Rex - Bass & Vox
AJ Burd - Guitar
Daniel Bartolo - Guitar
Dino Mifsud Lepre – Drums
Review:
You find yourself standing on a barren moor, with no clue as to your
previous whereabouts. All around you,
rain pours. In a flash, the sky above
you splits with forked lightning and bellows out mad thunder. In the distance, a single repeated tone can
be heard, reverberating not only around the moors but inside your head at the same time…
Open your eyes. Blink. Press ‘pause’ on your player. You’re fine.
Breathe a sigh of relief. It’s
only music. Or is it? This is Maltese doomers VICTIMS OF CREATION
and their brand new album: the sprawling, apocalyptic epic that is ‘Symmetry of
our Plagued Existence’. This is five
tracks of the blackest musical tales known to man, and you’ve just listened to
the first notes of ‘Chapter XXIII’, the album opener. To experience the full power of this album, I
advise putting on the headphones, closing your eyes, and letting your
imagination weave the music into a Technicolor vision of Armageddon.
Once you are suitably prepared, the music once again transports you back
to that desolate landscape. The
haunting, high-pitched tones urge you to move forward and, as you make your
first tentative steps, the drums pitch in, matching your uncertain motion. As you and the drums continue to move, there
is a sudden, terrifying scream (courtesy of bassist/vocalist Rex), which cuts
through the chill music like a gale.
Panic takes you and you begin to run, but you notice the sawing guitars
and threatening vocal growls are following at your heels like a pack of hungry
wolves. You could outrun it, but the
exercise would be futile: the pace is slow, but inescapable. It is Doom, and it is coming for you.
As the song reaches its end and you have run for what seems like an
eternity, you hear not only feedback, but voices… either chanting or mocking,
you can’t be sure which. You look behind
you, and the song has changed: ‘Tree of Iniquity’ has become your new predator,
and the chase begins again. The guitars
bite at you with hard, uneven teeth, and the vocals growl gutturally at you. Then the pace kicks up a notch, and you really
are in a fight for survival. A guitar
solo, a disturbing new entity, comes flapping about you on leather wings before
flying back into the dark sky. Trees get
smashed and uprooted by the anger of the track, peppering you with splinters
and debris. Keep running: a clearing
appears and the song seems to relent, its tone lightening and becoming more
melodic. It seems you have beaten ‘Tree of
Iniquity’, and its reward to you is this beautiful metal piece. Allow yourself a small breath: there are
still three more songs to go, and you’ll need all the strength you can
muster.
A bassline drones all around you in this new clearing. Then drums.
Then guitars. It seems you are
surrounded, and the song knows this.
Track 3, ‘The Art of Despair’ strides up to you with a steady
confidence, looks straight into your soul, and then batters down around you
with arms of black metal. AJ Burd and
Daniel Bartolo’s guitar attacks are slow, but no less filled with venomous purpose,
and it takes all your might to avoid being cut by their barbed notes. A bass solo from Rex comes at you, a measured
and precise strike that puts you onto your back. The song roars in victory, but its happiness
is short-lived as you regain your footing and continue to hold your
ground. The beat of the song is fierce
and steady, the vocals again sneer and snarl at you, but you have the measure
of it. You have faced down ‘The Art of
Despair’ and not been found wanting. It
emits one final roar of doom-filled anguish, before returning to the dark caves
from whence it came.
Your journey continues, and ‘The Glorious Deceit’ walks alongside you, a
sombre companion that sings your uncertainties back at you: ‘Where do we go
from here?’ asks Rex. Honestly, you
can’t answer: all that matters is making it out to the other side of the
moor. Hopefully, salvation will present
itself when you get there. You cross
long-forgotten fields with this new song, the music calm and soothing… then
something goes wrong. It becomes
suddenly angry at your persistence, and pushes and shouts at you with an almost
melancholy aggression. Solos cry out of
the song’s black eyes as it falls to its knees.
‘The Glorious Deceit’ will go no further, and you have only one song left
to go before you complete your adventure.
The final song, however, is a towering monster. Feet of pounding drums, body of colossal bass
and arms of mauling guitars, it is a beast that is over 22 minutes in length
and is a frightening, beautiful monster to behold. It opens its mouth and Rex’s howls come
pouring out with bestial ferocity.
Massive hands of metal reach down to grab and squeeze you and you must
dodge and weave to stay out of its unholy grasp. The vocals cry at you ‘BLASPHEMER! BLASPHEMER!’
Keep yourself strong, and you can defeat this terrific song: its final cries
growing faint as you run through the trees and find yourself in the safety of
the silent new land on the other side.
As you marvel at your success, realise that only 15 minutes have passed,
and not the 22 you thought the song was.
A tense 5 minutes of silence pass, before a slow, light guitar melody
floats towards you on the breeze. It is
a beautiful, yet menacing piece that lets you know: you have gotten through
this; but never forget, there are dark beasts out there wherever you go. The Maltese quartet has created a compelling
and crushing doom metal odyssey with ‘Symmetry of our Plagued Existence’: I
hope you unleash it upon your mind as soon as you possibly can.
Words by : Chris
Markwell
As ever, show your support to the band by checking them out at the various links and buying their merch. This record is available everywhere now. Thanks as always to Jan @ Sureshotworx for the hook up.
