Unfathomed of Abyss

Starting with an erratic, cacophonous din that is irrational and, frankly, disconcerting, before dying down to the most incompatibly serene piano playing, Arisen Upon Oblivion enjoys revelling in horror-inspired, multi-layered musical explorations that transcend everything about conventional instrumentation and structuring. From the off you are thrown right into the black bullpen, gored on the grimy horns of this savage, symphonic beast, left to recover briefly then thrown 10 feet back into the air as this Texas extreme metal band continually amp up the belligerent malevolence.

Unfathomed of Abyss have created an EP that has the eerie ability to cause both unease and an annoying sense of mollification. Something so unhinged shouldn’t make you feel this way but with its discordant guitars backed by ambient synths, Arisen Upon Oblivion is a demonstration of expert contrapuntal musicianship. In essence, what you get is 56 minutes of controlled chaos.

With its lengthy, largely lyric-less arrangements, Arisen Upon Oblivion boasts scores rather than songs. Like some kind of demonic oratorio, each of the six overtures tells an elaborate story that requires subjective interpretation. But I’m betting not one of the stories has a happy ending.

Much of the magnetism in this album is brought from what feels like a natural development of structure – as if the music is heading along a genetic trajectory rather than something meticulously planned by the band. It’s that anarchic lilt again presenting like an experimental session of trial and error in which even the errors are a good thing. But, ultimately, between the unbridled, unmelodious clamour of frictional sounds and the profound lyrical reverie of life’s – and the universe’s – essence, Arisen Upon Oblivion knows exactly what it is and achieves what it set out to do with varying degrees of success.