Band: Viscera
Title: 2: As Zeitgeist Becomes Profusion Of The I
Label: ConSouling Sounds
Distribution: ConSouling Sounds
Release date: 2010
Review: CD

This review isn’t about Viscera from the UK (Death Metal) or the US (Black Metal), but the Italian one with ‘///’ at the end. The band started ten years ago as an extreme carcass-ian Tech-Grind project (read: the inside of the human body got revealed in all its bloodiest and sickest details) about ten years ago, yet they evolved into a Sludge-oriented combo. Throughout the years, Viscera/// appeared on a few splits and they released two (unfortunately) underestimated studio recordings before (a self-released EP/mini and a full length, Cyclops). Viscera/// share, by the way, their drummer Lix with Death Metal formation Self Human Combustion, a band they released a split with in 2007 (through Hypershape Records).
2: As Zeitgeist Becomes Profusion Of The I, the second studio full length, contains four tracks with a total running time of forty five minutes; they (these songs) actually last between nine and fifteen minutes. This album is the band’s highlight, bringing magisterially composed and performed epic with the most rushing anguish I’ve hardly ever heard. It might be less heavy than before, yet it is at least as pulverising as it was before. Each hymn combines the best elements from Sludge, Drone and Post-Metal, dominated by all four members. This means that the mix and production are perfect, resulting in a gigantesque sound, blissfully rancid, liberally grand.
Ballad Of Barry L., the opening track, starts with a dark Epic Doom introduction, and although this atmosphere remains throughout the track, it does evolve whole the time. Psychedelic grooves with an energetic rhythm and peculiar melodies, and after six minutes the only vocal lines for thirty seconds, mostly fair. Designing opener! Hands In Gold combines Post-Rock, Grunge and Sludge with a certain snarling Stone Temple Pilots-alike atmosphere and Ulver-foolery. Most of the time, the track is provokingly slow, but what about that blackish Blast-outburst? Um Ad-Dunia is the most droning carol on the album, with an extremely sludgy rhythm section and blackish vocals. It contains some rather progressive yet aggressive Black-parts, Funeral Doom riffs, Post-Metal melodies and room for experiment. Final composition (and that’s the right definition for each, well, composition on this album) They Feel Like co2 is the fastest one, the most intense and most audacious one. And the most varying one as well. This psychedelic composition (here I go again) is full of surprises and like the other compositions (sorry, can’t help it), it remains breath-catchingly tasty.
2: As Zeitgeist Becomes Profusion Of The I is definition for the abundant spirit of age, that’s for sure…

90/100

Ivan Tibos.