REVIEWS

To Mega Therion
The Blood Rituals

Sistinas Music

Posted: Monday, November 19, 2007
By: Matthew Johnson
Assistant Editor

An EP in theory only, To Mega Therion's debut CD clocks in at over an hour and is packed with enough brutality to fill twice that length. Project founder Tyler Viscerine calls his music style "black noise," paying homage to both his influences: extreme metal and extreme electronics, but the emphasis is definitely on noise. Black metal influences become apparent through Satanic samples gleaned from obscure horror films and track titles derived from black magic grimoires, but this isn't some spooky instrumental CD you can put on in the background while you play at being Faustus. This is more like the aftermath of an invocation gone wrong, all wreckage and sulfur smoke. "Purification Ritual" is a baptism in brimstone, all relentlessly pounding beats, with the spooky atmosphere provided by the reverberating backwash of sound from the drum machine. The drum patches on "The Sermon of Setekh" are so distorted you'll think you've blown your speakers (turn it up too loud, and that becomes a real possibility). "Book of Enoch" is a grim snare-driven death march for the armies of the antichrist, while "The Sons of Asmodeus" washes bone-crushing breakbeats in growling feedback and distorted screams. "We Are Immortal," though no less brutal than the rest, is the most club-ready, thanks to a catchy sample and a faster tempo, while epic-length "The Brotherhood of Sleep" best captures Viscerine's multiple influences, evolving from jackhammer snares and thrashing guitar loops to funereal soundtrack strings. Numerous noise scene luminaries provide remixes on the second half of the CD, with fellow Sistinas Music act W.A.S.T.E. starting things off with a Blood and Fire mix of "We Are Immortal" that's drenched in the L.A. project's signature feedback, while Ah Cama-Sotz sets "Book of Enoch" to hard breaks and evil trance-inspired synth sequences. However, it's two comparatively unknown acts that completely steal the show. Embodi's appropriately titled Zombie A-Go-Go mix of "Purification" injects an undercurrent of voodoo percussion that gives things a unique tribal flavor, while Vuxnut, the solo project of W.A.S.T.E. founder Shane Englefield, extends "Book of Enoch" into an epic-length orchestral ambient piece, dropping the beats out almost entirely and replacing them with apocalyptic synth textures. While a lot of To Mega Therion's music is almost too extreme for club play, underground noise fans are going to dig The Blood Rituals; it's evil, it's heavy, it's relentless, and it's loud enough to really make you suffer. And technically, this is just a teaser for a forthcoming full-length album. If the EP is this grueling, the album is going to be utter torment.