Long has there been an argument that any artist must understand suffering should their creations be consider truly great. It’s a theme that we’ve seen crop up over millennia time and time again with it oftentimes being the case that some of the most profound creations have their origins steeped in the torture of its mastermind. Metal has a long history of perpetuating that notion with many core aspects of the genre rooted in deep pain. Several times a year do we bear witness to such creations from plenty of well-established acts, but few have become as otherworldly or all-consuming as Venomous Echoes with its newest opus of harrowing magnificence cementing the act’s status.
Should you have been paying any bit of attention to what’s been going on in the underground in the last few years then Venomous Echoes is a name you should, at the very least, be quite familiar with. With what’s now the acts fourth album in three years, “Ŋvęŧş: Violator Of Mater” quickly makes itself known as a ferocious demonic presence that is far more than just the next step for Venomous Echoes, but a mutation of sorts that contorts to produce what one might consider this band’s most accomplished performance to date. This is a record that never sits in one place for too long nor does it ever give the listener a moment of reprieve even in its smallest moments. Venomous Echoes channels something distinctly different for this performance as there’s something more ethereal about the work even as the caustic black-death metal is as psychedelic and overwhelmingly hostile as its predecessors, yet I just cannot quite put my finger on what it is that’s different about this record despite it permeating every fiber of the creation right from the beginning. Perhaps Venomous Echoes sought to channel a different angle of the torture its mastermind experiences with body dysmorphia and personal trauma, or is it something else entirely? Whatever the case, the very DNA of “Ŋvęŧş: Violator Of Mater” is steeped in an acute level of suffering that translates in this form of chaotic art that is nigh on bewildering to fall into.
When you’ve been throwing down material as often as Venomous Echoes, it’s only natural that we start to wonder as to whether or not there has been a dip in quality over time. Yet, a simple glimpse at what has been achieved throughout the whole of “Ŋvęŧş: Violator Of Mater” should be more than enough to dispel any such conversations. This is what happens when an artist pushes itself to become something beyond its personal strife and, instead, crafts something that brings us to our knees. This is a maddening record that’s downright schizophrenic at times, and that’s just part of what’s making Venomous Echoes an absolute need-to-know name in the current climate of the underground.
“Ŋvęŧş: Violator Of Mater” releases on September 4th via I, Voidhanger Records!
LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Ŋvęŧş: Violator Of Mater” on Bandcamp here.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAMkAZqHmc0&list=RDqAMkAZqHmc0&start_radio=1