By: Chris Bull
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 13/11/2015
Label: Prosthetic Records
'Alchemy in The Subyear' drips with essence of evil. The guitars, drums and vocals converge to a sharpened point which is hammered into your heart with the force of the bass and allowed to carve your flesh, while the atmospherics drag your soul into the depths of hell.
‘N.V.’ CD//DD// LP track listing:
1). Visceral Repulsion
2). Absolver
3). Strangled With the Cord
4). Omniscienza
5). Alchemy In the Subyear
The Review:
To most people, music is something to dance to, something to have on in the background. Something to nod your head to, but sometimes though, you need a piece of music to jump out of a dark alley, grab you by the throat and subject you to the most immense physical and emotional distress possible. Dragged Into Sunlight and Gnaw Their Tongues are just that; lurking in the darkest of alleys wearing leather gloves.
'Visceral Repulsion' begins with the familiar GTT style crackles, wails and thuds introducing us to a soundbite of a serial killer confessing how he strangled a victim, then Dragged Into Sunlight, focusing more on the black metal side of their game, blast and rip through every piece of flesh, every bone and every orifice, slowly and meticulously at first, before going whole hog. The vocals are spewed and screamed from members of both bands, Mories' being more distant and netherworldly. 'Absolver' is a more frantic and furious attack for the first 5 minutes before the darkness cascades slowly. Slower still is 'Strangled With the Cord' while the killer hides in the background. It explodes into merciless violence and panic. Each person in each band is at their nihilistic best, channelling the demons that dwell inside them. '
‘Omniscienza' sounds like it could be a Gorgoroth B-side from 2006 but with added fire, intensity and malevolent atmosphere. The effects used on the drums toward the tracks finality gives the feeling of satanic drum rituals performed in a dank, underground Cavern. 'Alchemy in The Subyear' drips with essence of evil. The guitars, drums and vocals converge to a sharpened point which is hammered into your heart with the force of the bass and allowed to carve your flesh, while the atmospherics drag your soul into the depths of hell. A filthy crust section makes way for the slow blackened doom of the song and the album's closing stages leaving your body bereft of impetus, withering away as you bleed.
Isaac Asimov once said "Violence is a refuge of the incompetent" but this collaboration, whose central theme is violence, is anything but incompetent. Little is known of the members of Dragged Into Sunlight; rumour has it they're lawyers, doctors, plumbers, builders and maybe they are. They could be sat next to you right now, ready to snap at any moment. In Mories, they seem to have found their spirit animal and he has guided them on their journey into psychopathy. Essential listening.
‘N.V.’ is available here
Band info:
Dragged into Sunlight: bandcamp | http://draggedintosunlight.co.uk/ | facebook
