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OK, just to get the USBM supergroup roll call out of the way: Leviathan, Xasthur, Draguar, Krieg, Nachtmystium. Now that we know from whence this unholy din springs, let’s address the din itself. Despite not reinventing any torture wheels here (including the ho-hum band moniker), there is a semblance of variety in the proceedings: from the punkish haste of back-enders “Hopeless Etheride” and “Swollen Voices in Silence” to the transcendent dirge of “Beyond Light (Beautiful and Malignant)” to the spiraling wall of buzzes that is “Woe Is the Corruption.” But it’s on the epic tracks like the aforementioned “Beyond Light” and “Winter Before” that this band really shines. And yet, for all my intimations of differentiation, there’s something monotonous about the entire thing. Perhaps it’s the claustrophobic vibe to the groans and shrieks, the omnipresent production hum or the fact that I’m at this point burnt out on Stateside black metal’s petulant atavism, but barring a song or two, I’m not doing much when listening to this thing other than waiting until it ends. Depending on where the sliding scale of kult-induced ennui finds you, tread likewise.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Woe is the Contagion |
| 2. Exact Agony, Take Life |
| 3. Larval Liaise |
| 4. As the March of Worms |
| 5. Winter Before |
| 6. White Fire Under Black Text |
| 7. Hopeless Etheride |
| 8. Swollen Voices in Silence |
| 9. Beyond Light (Beautiful and Malignant) |
: 44:19
| Buy other Twilight albums |
