Merrimack - Grey Rigorism

September 6, 2009

Reviewer: Matt

“For however much black metal continues to be co-opted, commercialized, and crassly made into a (marketable) parody of itself, there exist true aesthetic terrorists with such fanatic ideology and frightening vision to keep the genre ‘grounded’ - in the dirt, in the grime, of the soul.”  So reads the unintentionally ironic introductory paragraph to the press release accompanying Merrimack’s latest album.

I enthusiastically signed up to review Grey Rigorism, having enjoyed their previous release, Of Entropy and Life Denial.  While failing to establish Merrimack as anything but a run-of-the-mill modern black metal act, Of Entropy and Life Denial was a competent, highly listenable collection of diverse riffs packaged in a slick, professional production.  It simultaneously evidenced an instrumentally accomplished band well-versed in Scandinavian metal language and a third-tier act comfortable with simply repackaging familiar riffs, melodies, and song structures.

Grey Rigorism is a substantial step backward for a band already critically lacking individuality and creativity.  From its Pollack-knockoff album cover to the press release touting “progressive song constructs,” Grey Rigorism is an embarrassment.  Merrimack’s approach is this: obliviously intersperse emo modern rock hooks with tired Norsecore blasting and scattered mosh-ready breakdowns (seriously!), paying no mind to the communicative import at the heart of metal; layer spoken word passages, samples, and vocals shamelessly imitating those on Funeral Mist’s Salvation; and disguise such condescending and vapid songs as progressive and contemplative through the sheer randomness of the songwriting and a crafty studio-produced atmosphere.  Individual riffs are simplistic and highly derivative of recent Marduk and Enslaved.  Transitions occur without motivation, as if the band merely tired of playing one riff and pulled the next out of a hat, and no continuation of theme or thought survives.  The one message that escapes the morass is one the band unintentionally conveys: that Merrimack has no purpose or passion to create music, only a desire to be black metal superstars.

While it’s surface sheen and prog-rock indulgences have the pretension of “thinking man’s metal”, Grey Rigorism is a sheep in wolf’s clothing. At its core the music is simply a description of its own aesthetic, running around in circles blindly searching for direction and compositional clarity.  Art doesn’t have to tell you that it’s art.  Grey Rigorism screams its own self-importance and begs for you to take it seriously, but it’s just deathcore with corpsepaint, a grab bag of clichés with the audacity to flaunt itself as cutting edge.

At over sixty minutes in length, Grey Rigorism is exhausting, and after five marathon listens, each more frustrating than the last, the only passage I can remember is the end of the title track, and I only remember it because I’ve heard it used any number of times in various metalcore and Borknagar-knockoff releases over the past few years.  Don’t be fooled by their parlor tricks; Merrimack’s trend-hopping grab at commercialization is a pathetic failure.  If you like the latest drivel from Enslaved and Funeral Mist, or think Marilyn Manson is high art, you’ll like this.  If you cling to the belief that black metal can aspire to majesty and profundity, avoid this monstrosity at all cost.

Release Date: August 24th, 2009
Label: Moribund Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  The Golden Door
2.  Omniabsence
3.  Kirjath-Ra
4.  La Sainteté du Mal
5.  Cold Earth Mourning
6.  Grey Rigorism
7.  When the Stars Align
8.  Désaveu
9.  In the Halls of White Death
10.  By Thy Grace

Total playing time:  61:27

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