Sometimes the metal community never ceases to amaze me. To be blunt about it, why the hell isn’t Cholera signed somewhere? Anywhere? Canada’s vastly overwhelming duo offers its first full-length Prophecies of Annihilation and it’s an hour of brilliant music that just screams to be heard.

Directly in line with the band’s amazing EP Enslaved Humanity from my demo reviews last year, the strength of Cholera comes from its intuitive handle on the progressive-death genre. It not only grabs it by the throat, it shakes it until it passes out from pain and slaps it awake again to repeat the cycle another dozen times. This band is disgustingly underrated, criminally unheard, and we need to rectify that situation stat! What Cholera accomplishes in an EP and one self-released full-length most bands would kill to have in their arsenal; it’s a bargaining tool the likes of which are infinitely rare today.

I’m not exactly sure where to begin with this album. The absolute inability to pinpoint one particular genre point or set sound is also a strength; this music bounces all over the place, especially flush in “The Lost Traveler”, a nearly-19-minute epic that starts out with a wonderfully serene guitar that borders on stock flamenco, only to batter the mood nearly three minutes in with a power riff/palm-mute attack that is both exciting and memorable. With a vast display of switches in direction and full, rich tones under careful use of programming this track is only one small part of the encapsulating power that Cholera spits out so effortlessly and expertly. For the most part, the vocals are a sort of breathy and gruff delivery, all the while being discernable and overly capable; I can tell you that this style is certainly not yet overused by the masses, so Cholera once more sets a nice standard for clarity and ability to be set above the usual mark. What I love is the piano and power chord mesh in the middle of the song. To me, and this is high praise indeed, this trumps anything I currently hear from bands like Dream Theater, Opeth or any other progressive metal titan out there now. This music defies convention and familiarity to the point of irrationality. I think many bands of this ilk become stagnant in their own successes and forget the integral parts of music that originally set them apart. Cholera is here to balance the scales. Trust me please…this band is nothing short of cerebral necessity.

Once you’re recovering from “The Lost Traveler”, the slow-down is a slightly chaotic sort in “Reminisce”, which sports some classical maneuvering amidst haunting, clean vocals that greatly showcase Raph Weinroth’s and Matthew Buller’s harmonizing. While not exactly Lennon and McCartney, the duo makes the concentrated effort a well-oiled score. However, once again, the comfort zone is shattered with a shock to the system hit by way of solid riffing and some really good bass work. The title track is one of the most intelligent pieces of progressive metal music these ears have yet to hear. Its beautiful mid-section keyboard creates a million visuals, only to have them scattered quickly as a musical bullet strikes a lovely swan on a lake, just killing your visions and delusions in an instant. As usual with Cholera, once you anticipate a right turn, the band clocks a 180 shift and you go along willingly because, well, you have to; it’s just too damn good to quit now. The overall production being so high and the duo themselves being so inherently talented makes Cholera a must-hear because, quite frankly, if you don’t hear them you’re missing out on something tremendous.         

I won’t think of any witty, block-quote worthy ending for this; the music is just so pregnant with resonance and expertise that to pass up anything this band offers is a mass disservice to yourself. There aren’t any two bands out there anymore doing what these guys do, and they need to find support and a label that will have everything to gain by signing them and giving them a push. I’ve never lobbied harder for a band in my life; check them out and see if you agree.    

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Road Into the Fire
2.  Enslaved Humanity
3.  The Lost Traveler
4.  Reminisce
5.  Prophecies of Annihilation

Total playing time:  01:05:40

Release Date: February, 2011
Label: Band Self Released

Cholera - Prophecies of Annihilation

Reviewer: Chris

March 31, 2011