I Shalt Become - Poison

Release Date: June 22, 2010 
Label: Moribund Cult

TRACK LISTING

1.  Like a Lamb to the Slaughter...
2.  Black Swan Events
3.  Harlow's Vertical Chamber
     Apparatus
4.  No Quarter at the Somme
5.  Ghosts
6.  Leaving Watership Down
7.  The Swarming of the Locusts
8.  Doubt
9.  The Finest Cut of the Scalpel
10.  Absolve Me

Total playing time:  55:13

June 26, 2010

Reviewer: Kesh

Illinois-based black metal act, I Shalt Become is back with their fifth album, Poison. Adherents to the theistic or depressive sides of the genre will probably not appreciate the eclectic-ness of the album's themes; which range from loss and solitude of leaving a place considered to be home ("Leaving Watership Down") to some light touches of the traditional black metal ("Doubt," "Absolve Me") and anything else in between that could be considered dark and foreboding topics.

The album plays through like a single song, which to some is a good thing, while others might view it as a hindrance, threatening to plunge the entire album into a monotonous dirge which could potentially bore or confuse some listeners who don't get the symphonic structure of the album. This is the one big negative for an otherwise phenomenal album that will please the senses of those who can get past this. I actually enjoy it for this reason, and along with the comparatively slow pace Poison maintains when placed next to other bands out there like Nazxul or Funeral Mist - both of which seem to be invoked by the massiveness of the music - the pace is a nice change to the point of being relaxing.

I'm not saying the album is so slow it will put you to sleep, but I do feel that there could have been some points where the music could have been sped up a little - yet I also still feel sometimes being entirely different is a good thing.

Two tracks that particularly stand out for me are "Black Swan Events" and "Leaving Watership Down." They are more distinctive than the rest of the tracks and stick in your head and the composition on the album (these two tracks especially) comes off as very haunting, setting up an ambiance that would be spine tingling while reading a horror novel or as background music to a movie of the same genre. In short it's creepy in a good way, while at the same time being relaxing. If a really fast heart-poundingly intense track had been placed on the end of the album (and if done right) it possibly would have gotten another half-star in its rating.

I Shalt Become is mind-bendingly phenomenal music, more scored like a movie soundtrack than an album released by a black metal band. I really suggest that you place this one on your summer playlist.

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