For a moment there I thought that maybe there was something about this band; that maybe, given the plethora of influences they could tap into, there was a glint of authentic musical acumen. But no; unfortunately for my –by now- shriveled auditory cortex, this particular musical platter hasn't met my, apparently, lofty expectations - not by a long shot. Where Satyricon (with Rebel Extravaganza) in essence provided the most refined form of black metal extremism/terrorism without the need to resort to death metal inoculations; where Thorns (with their self-titled, singular album) fundamentally solidified black metal within its riff-o-logical (indeed, I'm making up words now - mind?) substratum; where DHG (with 666 International) took the usual black metal forms and distorted/contorted/morphed them beyond recognition against a canvas of abstract surrealism, Vortex can only sit cross-legged nearby like the proverbial infant sucking on its thumb, dumbfounded if not rather perplexed.
VERSion as a musical endeavor is seemingly content with just gliding blissfully along the aesthetical wave of the aforementioned triptych without any indication of stirring into unknown “waters” and countering this wash-over of stale songcraft. Spastically rendered rhythms coupled with shambling dynamics make the songs feel as if they’re stuck in 2nd gear. At their worst they sound like a mish-mash of plastered industro-beats and interspersed, bland staccato riffery; at their best they do sound quite promising, if only for a few transient moments of inspired experimentation. In effect, what has happened here is that the band has fallen in the pitfall that has befallen so many bands before them: the constituent parts are actually more functional than aesthetically genuine, i.e. although the band is instrumentally adept; the very 'soul' of the music remains unconvincing. Vocals only exacerbate any given impression of a musical congruence - sounds like the guy after numerous tries perforce had to settle with just shouting the lyrics with a limited sense of tonal inflection.
Although admittedly I could only half-heartedly 'get' DHG’s manic structural aberrance, still there was an artistic direction that could be discerned out of the sprawling chaos but frustratingly enough, this is not the case with these Huns. But hey, maybe I’m wrong, maybe these are just the incipient steps of a band destined towards greatness, in which case in the years to come I may prove to be the one narrow-minded individual who couldn't see the genius through it all. But then again, maybe not.
VERSion as a musical endeavor is seemingly content with just gliding blissfully along the aesthetical wave of the aforementioned triptych without any indication of stirring into unknown “waters” and countering this wash-over of stale songcraft. Spastically rendered rhythms coupled with shambling dynamics make the songs feel as if they’re stuck in 2nd gear. At their worst they sound like a mish-mash of plastered industro-beats and interspersed, bland staccato riffery; at their best they do sound quite promising, if only for a few transient moments of inspired experimentation. In effect, what has happened here is that the band has fallen in the pitfall that has befallen so many bands before them: the constituent parts are actually more functional than aesthetically genuine, i.e. although the band is instrumentally adept; the very 'soul' of the music remains unconvincing. Vocals only exacerbate any given impression of a musical congruence - sounds like the guy after numerous tries perforce had to settle with just shouting the lyrics with a limited sense of tonal inflection.
Although admittedly I could only half-heartedly 'get' DHG’s manic structural aberrance, still there was an artistic direction that could be discerned out of the sprawling chaos but frustratingly enough, this is not the case with these Huns. But hey, maybe I’m wrong, maybe these are just the incipient steps of a band destined towards greatness, in which case in the years to come I may prove to be the one narrow-minded individual who couldn't see the genius through it all. But then again, maybe not.
(originally written for Diabolical Conquest - 2008)
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