Empty Chalice – Emerging is Submerging – The Evil. Industrial
Ölocaust Recordings. 2017.
Track
listing.
A1.
Look Into My Eyes.
A2.
Muffled Scream.
A3.
Sidereal.
B1.
Emerging is Submerging.
B2.
Stolen Breaths and Destroyed Hope.
I was contacted on the blog recently by the project Empty
Chalice off the strength of my Atrax Morgue review. This is an Italian project
of Antoine A. He has done 5 releases as Empty Chalice and Gopota. This most
recent album is Emerging is Submerging and this was recorded between 2015-17.
It’s good to be approached by projects like this instead of
buying and picking what I review, sets a challenge. So it stands as my first
real review request. On first listen, Emerging has an immediate ethereal beauty
with lots going off in the background. Massive, spacious atmospheres build up
on ‘Muffled Scream’, ‘Sidereal’ juxtaposes grunting vocal noises and ethereal
ambient sound. At first this track stands out as it feels slightly sullied
compared to the others. This contrast appears in other parts of the album,
particularly the more industrial Emerging is Submerging, which varies things
with clear electronics.
Throughout the album, I found myself focused on the
background details and then suddenly pulling to the forefront of the sound - I was constantly emerged in
its depths, It was as if I constantly descended and submerged through the album. Along with a subtle track variety and moments of beauty; these depths are the album’s main
strengths.
Empty
Chalice – The Way is Called Black. Cvlminis Records - self one copy only release– 2015
Track
Listing.
1. This
Way is called black (Evil Seeker).
2. You
knock on the cross.
3. Nebel
XX II MMXV.
4. Distant
Sun.
5. Ibex.
6. Blue
Instill.
7. Wieviel
Bist du Bereit zum Sterben?
Emerging is Submerging stands
in massive contrast to the sonic violence of the previous Chalice recording
from 2015 – The Way is called Black. The Way begins quite dreamily but soon
grows into some very raw assaults of noise, particularly ‘You Knock the Cross’ which is violent electronic insanity, effective through its' minimal palette of sound. The walls static of noise and looped repetition
made me think that Bandcamp had hit a glitch.
Combative walls of noise are
toyed with to form Nebel, continuing the album’s primitive assault. Radiating
drones are rudely interrupted by sharp frequencies in Distant Sun before Ibex
goes insane. Rather than the traditional radiating keyboards of Distant Sun,
Ibex contains piercing, progressive scales of noise within which the volume is
fucked with to create a spewing radiation of noise. Blue Instill goes off the
scale. This demonstrates tracks feeding off and progressing on from each other.
The final track Wieviel Bist is like a slow death, unkindly winding things
downto an end.
The two albums stand in
contrast to each other; Submerging’s ambient beauty, and Black's radiating
violence; I truly and equally loved both approaches. Sonically both albums work brilliantly.
This is an intelligent, impressive project that has set my Sunday off to a good
start. Thanks.
Choppy Noodles 2017
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