From the very moment the music begins on The Axis of Perdition’s latest release titled Tenements (of the Anointed Flesh) the overall aura is one of intense heaviness in the air. The darkness surrounding this album is some of the finest I’ve heard incorporated into a band’s sound in some time. It seems the U.K. now has an added notch to its already impressive black-ambient roster right up there with Fen, though far more sinister.

Without coming off as elemental for design’s sake, Tenements delivers a harsh, mentally disheveled look at the inner workings of a ravaged psyche. The tumultuousness of the music here is undeniably brilliant, as is the tonal despair captured so intently in tracks like “Unveiled”, which is as tempestuous as it is melodic in its bleakness. There are times where vocalist/guitarist Brooke Johnson sounds a bit like a later Ihsahn without the high pitches found in Emperor; the clear, yet discernable delivery is a highlight for me, not to mention the powering gruffness that usually gives way to the mundane and predictability of the typical black metal screeching. I hear some pieces of industrial music interspersed throughout the tracks, but the general feeling of depressiveness isn’t just by way of the tonality of the music but rather the crafting and issuance of it as a whole.

The one thing of note about Tenements is that the typical metal fan might not ‘get’ the music here; that is to say the frame of thought and mindset has to be just right to fully appreciate and consume this album. The chords from the guitars are, quite literally, communal with the utter lack of cheer on this record. While not a depressive jaunt by any means, a song like “The Flesh” simply isn’t able to be tagged or reduced to typical reviewer’s witless jargon; “Dark Red Other” seems to stop the fast-moving vehicle in an instant to throw a sardonic wrench into the setting as horror-filled sounds emerge through the din that callously play havoc with the listener’s brain, delivering a feeling of dread and even being watched. It’s a wonderfully useful and timely device that is usually either overdone or ignored completely for more screaming wails or detuned guitar noise. Sometimes less is certainly more. “The Changer” then follows the slower, more desperate line and crawls into the ears like a night bug that burrows into the wax and lies there until its death or human discomfort forces a response. It’s simply that good and these are just a couple of examples.

This album bounces between black metal and industrialized arrangements so evenly that the line is nearly untraceable, and it will impress even the most dedicated fan of ether movement. This album is by no means a ‘light’ album and should not be underestimated or devalued as just another black-ambient record that will be lost in the mire that is the genre.

Those that are already familiar with this band will need no further accolades to secure their interest, but if you are a newbie and a fan of solo Ihsahn’s sound, but harsher and with some very sadistic overtones playing with your emotional center, then certainly check out The Axis of Perdition’s back catalog as well as Tenements because they know full well how to completely eradicate the light from inside.          

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  The Sleeper
2.  Unveiled
3.  Unbound
4.  Sigils and Portents
5.  The Flesh Spiral
6.  Dark Red Other
7.  The Changer
8.  Disintegration
9.  Ordained
10.  Awakenings

Total playing time:  1:00:26

Release Date: May 2, 2011
Label: Code666 Records

The Axis Of Perdition - Tenements (of the anointed flesh)

Reviewer: Chris

May 13, 2011