Vessels of Light and Decay is the shadowy soundtrack to an unthinkable doom. The creators of this deadly infusion of the darkest death metal and processional doom is Indesinence – a band that have been away for entirely too long (it’s been six years since their last record Noctambulism) – yet this long and drawn out period has not been in vain, and Vessels of Light and Decay has been well worth the lengthy wait. And even more so considering the trials and tribulations of Profound Lore Records in just getting the record out there (the original release date was pushed back to October 16th from an earlier scheduled date of mid-September).
Indesinence began their career in 2001, and their output has been scattered to say the least – a demo in 2003 and the aforementioned full length along with an EP in 2006. Vessels of Light and Decay has been a long time coming and Indesinence have taken their bittersweet time in producing a record that holds both a stately majesty as well as a cutting sorrow. This kind of deeply evocative music doesn’t come easily and the pain and waste of life is clear for all to hear through the howls of intensity issued forth from Ilia Rodriguez or the guitars (John Wright and Rodriguez) that hold within them a burning passion for darkness.
Beginning with the ominous and instrumental “Flux,” Vessels of Light and Decay soon rolls into “Paradigms” and a whole new dimension of fear and claustrophobia is breached. Indesinence are a band to take the darkest route possible, and this first track is testament to the power wrought by paranoia and punishment. Shades of horror sit within calmer moments, Rodriguez extolling that “…time erases nothing” whilst the music behind his echoing voice takes a step back into the gloom. It’s terrifying in its truth and the cavernous nature of life is laid bare with a climatic cry before the song twists into dissonant riffs and shimmering cymbal play.
Interspersing the more monolithic pieces of work on the album are shorter movements (short by doom standards is anything sub-ten minutes) and these tracks serve to break the despair into slightly more manageable pieces – sometimes…..sometimes it all becomes a little much and whilst you are very much on this journey into the infinite, there will always come a time when a break is needed. This is not a slight on Indesinence at all, but more on the human condition. The mind can only take so much hurt and suspicion and castigation before it gives out completely and tracks such as “Communion” with its disgust and brutality and even bursts of speed and flighty riffs is a welcome intrusion into the loneliness conjured by this masterful quartet.
The cosmic images of “La Madrugada Eterna” swirl within unknown universes of despair and Indesinence suddenly become so much more than death/doom force and the band take their manifesto outside of the genre boundaries and climb to a new zenith of desolate dread whilst playing with ethnic sounds and vortexes of electronics. This moment of abstract clarity leads into “Fade (Further Beyond),” a track so beautifully torturous that you can feel it within your very bones.You can hear it here, but be warned, this track is desperately agonising in it’s execution. Whether that’s the slow and rumbling bass (Andy McIvor) passages or the climbing guitar solos that take a breathless leap towards the light only to shy away and take on deeply suggestive undertones instead or the occasional sway into more immediate territory. It’s demanding and effortless and the infrequent stabs of melody are all the more melancholy for their sporadic appearances.
Vessels of Light and Decay closes on the gargantuan “Unveiled” and Indesinence bow out on an unsettling and whispered ode to exasperation and disquiet whilst flickering sighs of guitar play against the powerful beats of Daniel Ben-Haim’s drum strikes. Almost entirely instrumental, this track is an initially gentle piece that evokes loss and anguish until Rodriguez cries out “….how did it come this?” with a very real ache in his suffering voice. It will take all of your strength to not absolutely give up on all life during these huge tremors of harrowing distress and Indesinence finish this monumental opus with a palpable sense of the certainty found in death. Overwhelming.
Keep checking Profound Lore Records for ordering information prior to the official release date.
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