Sulphur
Thorns In Existence
Dark
Essence
2010
Bergen,
well known for black metal, has continued to breed hellish adherents to
the dark flame which include amongst their ranks, Sulphur. On
Sulphur's sophomore effort, stern black metal and off-the-wall death
metal rhythms carry the listener into strange arenas of cold and
calculated hatred. After an atypical intro, True Father of Lies
unleashes a flurry of bizarre harmonics and accents to enhance a
bottomless well of cruel black metal that is tight in its execution.
Classy guitar solos illustrate the dedicated musicianship of
Sulphur. The Purifying Flame obliterates through its use of
blasting death metal rhythmic work that is textured with twists and
turns that lead into a dream-like passage that bring to mind several of
these musicians other project, Vulture Industries. This section
logically progresses into a symphonic piece of synth coated black
metal. Whereas on Hunting Sickening Seas utilizes fat Morbid
Angel-esque riffs and harmonics. The song then abruptly jumps
into some clean vocalled weirdness. Catchy melodies, acoustic
strumming and progressive fretwork take the track far afield from black
metal traditionalism. A pummeling beat and thick guitars smother
in a manner similar to Boltthrower on Ravner Beiter I Banesar's
opening passage. The track slips into some blasting black metal
that are sliced by razor-sharp shrieks with an eerie Cello to
bring the song to a close. The album closes with A Crimson Line
where technical thrash sets the tone early on. Odd
guitar tricks and melodic leadwork make this song anything but
ordinary. Sulphur on a superficial level is a malicious
black metal beast, but upon more devoted listenings, each song is a
soundscape filled with unforeseen dementia and contain a dense
level of complexity and creativity. In some ways, Thorns In
Existence takes elements from Enslaved, Taake and Vulture Industries
and fuses them into a work of focused and controlled madness.