Review
Kaosguards

Au menu du deuxième album de SEPTIC MIND, on trouve trois compositions dépassant respectivement 25, 18 et 14 minutes: les Russes se placent avantageusement dans la course au titre de groupe le plus extrêmement monumental du Funeral Doom.

Heureusement, le propos de SEPTIC MIND ne se résume pas à la longueur de ses titres, critère généralement plus synonyme d’ennui que d’intérêt. Le groupe ne peut guère prétendre révolutionner le sous genre puisqu’il en reprend à son compte les préceptes les plus basiques : extrême lenteur des tempi, rythmiques pachydermiques, vocaux caverneux et indistincts, textes et imagerie d’une noirceur totale, tout y est et particulièrement bien maîtrisé.

SEPTIC MIND se distingue de ses camarades de désespoir par une propension nette à plonger sa muraille granitique dans un brouillard lysergique. Lequel a pour vertu principale de conférer un caractère foncièrement malsain et dégénéré à un ensemble déjà aux confins de l’humanité. Riffs dissonants, claviers hantés, vocaux noyés dans le mix : l’auditeur déjà malmené s’enfonce littéralement dans un magma épais et gluant, perdant toute notion de temps, d’espace, en même temps qu’il réalise l’inanité de tout espoir.

Si vous comptez passer seul les fêtes de fin d’année, ne tentez pas le Diable, évitez cet album, il pourrait vous être fatal. Si vous aimez de Funeral Doom existentiel, succombez les yeux fermés.

Author: Alain Lavanne

Review
Alternative Matter
21.12.2011

This is the second album from Russian based Septic Mind, and from the opening swathes of isolation and despair the listener appreciates what is in store for the duration. Consisting of three long tracks “The True Call”, “Doomed to Sin” and “Planet is Sick” each, in their own way, develop throughout the duration at a dinosaur pace. “The True Call” begins in a desolate landscape, encased in fog and awaiting the arrival of the vocal. When the vocal arrives it is in the low, bleak growl that is familiar to most devotees of this style of playing. Around 10 minutes into the track the mood is lifted slightly as further instrumentation add new levels to the landscape, guitars weave in and out of the smoke and voices from above add to the tone. Eventually the elements that have been hinted at so far coalesce and round the piece off with an unwieldy riff and an austere spirit. “Doomed to Sin” begins altogether more optimistically, but has the familiar tone lurking in the background, and gradually over the next 10 minutes decelerates into tectonic plates of sound grating against each other as guitars cry mournfully in the expanse. The shortest track “Planet is Sick” at 14 minutes is by some way the more complex of the three pieces and draws the listener in with its’ contemplative guitar motif and the sinister progression throughout. This track, more than the others, has the advantage of being the most easily accessible and has a more uplifting feel, if that word could be applied to music of this nature. By the culmination the listener has been trampled down, and is left feeling both exhilarated and overwhelmed with passion.

Overall The True Call leaves the willing observer feeling melancholic and hungry for more which takes skill and courage to attempt and pull off effectively. The length of the tracks that make up the album permit them time to expand organically, and there is an essence throughout that each piece is emerging as we listen. Amongst the many albums that are attempting to inspire doom and despondency, Septic Mind have managed to do so with The True Call, and to also inspire the listener to take notice of what is on offer and not to dismiss as mere soundtrack.

Author: John

Review
Metalstorm
7.9/10
05.01.2012

The True Call marks the sophomore effort by happy-go-lucky Russians of Septic Mind.

In the past year or so, I’ve reviewed 28 albums for Solitude Productions (and sub-labels), and Septic Mind’s prior effort, 2010′s The Beginning was easily my favorite of the lot. It violated me, leaving me curled up in fetal position in the shower, scouring away with Lava soap and a brillo pad while incoherently and repeatedly muttering “Unclean! Unclean!”

Being a sequel of sorts, and a sequel to an album I was particularly blown away by, it suffers from the dreaded high bar of lofty expectations… and The True Call fell a bit short.

Structurally they don’t deviate from the basic approach of the last album. The release contains three songs, all of which are slower and longer than a 20 mile rush hour commute on the LA freeway. The three tracks have slow, trippy ambien(t) moments and crushing doom at a pace that makes a snail’s crawl look like blitzkrieg in comparison. Well, the closer, “Planet Is Sick” is an upbeat ditty that might keep up with that snail.

The slow, trippy ambient bits seem improved a tad from last time, some reminiscent of watching old Tom Baker-era Doctor Who while having a bad trip. There is a little post-y element tossed in to the intro segment of “Doomed To Sin.”

The psychedelia often continues bleeding into and tainting the doomed passages, giving it a quality similar to Esoteric, which can be construed as complimentary given that band’s position at the top of that niche of the doom genre.

The letdown mostly comes from the doom in this one… Perhaps repeated listens to The Beginning helped me develop a bit of a tolerance to it, but this one does not seem to pack quite the same impact. Some of it is the presence of psychotropic currents, to be sure. But this one, particularly in the production, seems to have smoothed out some of the abrasive elements.

Sure the music is still horrifying and an affront to all humanity… but less so.

While The Beginning was sonic Ebola that had you hemorrhaging internal organs out your ear holes, The True Call is more akin to Consumption. And not the good kind of consumption (you know, booze!), but the TB kind.

And in closing, it must be said that while I referred to this as a “let down”, it was merely comparative to their prior release… The True Call still gives a heavy sack beating to most the “extreme” doom (brought to you by Mountain Dew… or is it Mountain Dewm?) I’ve heard and reviewed this year. This is a really good album that will wafflestomp your soul.

Author: BitterCOld

Review
Stereo Invaders
7/10
11.12.2011

Il mondo sta morendo! Da qualsiasi parte ci giriamo, vediamo morte, disperazione, solitudine, non c’è via d’uscita, il grigiore offusca tutto, è una nebbia eterna in cui il sole oramai non ce la fa più ad inserire i suoi raggi vitali, la conseguenza è una sola: la fine! Anche dalla sconfinata e gelida Russia, come d’altronde da qualsiasi altro paese, arriva un messaggio di rassegnazione, i Septic Mind ce lo dicono anche con le loro parole: ”Planet Is Sick”, e ce lo dimostrano con la loro musica, una lenta e solenne marcia funebre che non lascia speranze, quasi un’ora in soli tre brani, dove l’unico messaggio che si percepisce è il completo e totale abbandono di ogni speranza di salvezza. A volte in maniera più sospesa ed eterea come nella title track, a volte in maniera più ossessiva e debordante come negli altri due monoliti neri, i due figli della steppa trascinano tutto nel maelstrom, lasciando una lunga scia di annichilimento e disillusione. Qui è inutile parlare di tecnica o di produzione, queste cose i Septic Mind le lasciano a chi ancora crede che attraverso dei pseudo messaggi positivi, finti come una banconota da 25 euro, si possa ancora tornare a vedere la luce del sole…tutto inutile! Siamo già cenere e neanche ce ne accorgiamo, ma ”The True Call” è qui per ricordarcelo, abbandonate tutto ciò che pensate ci faccia stare bene, siamo già morti…

Author: MetalGeorge

Review
The Pit of the Damned
8/10
12.02.2012

Li avevamo lasciati ad inizio 2011, con un monolitico album di soli tre pezzi; li ritroviamo oggi alle prese con altri tre bei pacconi di funeral doom. Si tratta dei russi Septic Mind, fieri portabandiera di un genere che oggi sta vivendo la sua massima espansione, grazie anche ad act ben più famosi. Sarà forse l’immagine di un pianeta alla totale deriva o la percezione di fine del mondo imminente, ma sempre più presa sta avendo questo movimento cosi estremo, in cui la proposta del duo di Tver si inserisce. “The True Call” si apre con la consueta lugubre musicalità dei nostri, che rispetto al precedente “The Beginning”, sembra aver incupito ulteriormente (e di certo non era una missione del tutto scontata) il proprio sound, instillando nella già pesante aria, una ancor più profonda sensazione di morte. La opening, nonché title track, è una specie di marcia funebre, ma che più lenta non si può, che sembra essere influenzata anche da sonorità drone/sludge, per un risultato talmente tanto funesto, ipnotico e quanto mai eccitante, da entusiasmarmi non poco. Una sorta di Ufomammut rallentati (e ce ne vuole) che incontrano il drone dei Sunn O))), in un contesto apocalittico a la Neurosis, ovviamente il tutto rallentato di 100 volte. Sospesi in un infinito buco nero che risucchia pian piano ogni cosa, la mia anima viene inghiottita anch’essa rapidamente dal nefasto destino che ci attende, la morte. Tutto si oscura, il sole si spegne, un gelo galattico avvinghia il nostro insignificante pianeta, estinguendo quasi istantaneamente qualsiasi forma di vita. Ecco il panorama nichilista dipinto dalla musica dei nostri, che con la loro musica oscura e a dir poco opprimente, si pongono un solo unico obiettivo, cancellare l’uomo dal nostro pianeta. E il risultato, totalmente privo di ossigeno, riesce nell’impresa che i nostri si sono prefissati. La band prova anche a cambiare registro nei minuti iniziali di “Doomed to Sin”, con un suono decisamente più sperimentale e meno tetro, ma ammetto di preferirli nella loro veste più tenebrosa ed eccomi accontentato perché i suoni d’oltretomba ritornano per una quindicina di minuti buoni a confortarmi, con una buona dose di ferrea angoscia, sempre coadiuvata dal growling catacombale di Michael Nagiev. Chiude il disco “Planet is Sick”, la song più ammaliante, psichedelica e anche melodica del terzetto, a confermare che il nostro pianeta è malato e a sancire anche l’importante passo in avanti fatto dal duo russo. Magniloquenti!

Author: Francesco Scarci

Review
Ave Noctum
7/10
06.02.2012

Solitude are doing a pretty good job of trying to get the still mostly unknown Russian extreme metal scene out into the world, so it was nice when this and another album dropped in my lap. The difficult thing here is that anyone who was at that gig in London end of January will understand why reviewing anything else vaguely funeral doom related is a bit tricky. Still, that’s why I’m here, and thankfully Russian duo Septic Mind have a bit more in their box of tricks.

This is their third release since 2008 and their second for Solitude so I was hoping for a band with their sound fully formed and a focus about them, and I got it.

The twenty five minute title track ‘The True Call’ begins with a slow, almost space rock feel to the keyboards, slowly morphing into more funeral territory which offers a cavernous chamber to enter in by. It’s a rich sound but as it rises the death vocals come in and they are, to be honest a bit expressionless here despite the wreathing keyboard wow and flutter. When they fall away though the majesty of the track lifts again. Amidst the keyboards that have that religious, monastic sound come the plucked guitar notes. It leaves a distinct goth feel to it, ‘ Elizium’ period Fields Of The Nephilim in a cloud of funeral doom perhaps. And when the vocals return they resonate so much better. It’s a long journey, stately but atmospheric and even if it doesn’t exactly go anywhere, where it stays is fine enough to keep me interested.

‘Doomed To Sin’ throws me a bit after that. Shorter at about eighteen minutes, it launches with a pure post-rock guitar twiddling that drifts through a bit of prog and then grinds to a standstill. And claws it’s way out with a deep bit of total sludge doom. It is a weird shift and not one I’m convinced works perfectly but the sludge is compelling and thick with a slow, disintegrating sound that is like fading light, particularly as some melody seeps in and out in later parts. The track moves inexorably towards this twinkling, twilight sound before fading into some cosmic distance leaving the listener both bereft and slightly in awe.

Saving the shortest (fifteen minutes) to last, the final song ‘ Planet Is Sick’ leads on the kind of rolling, sludge meets space rock sound. Dancing tripped out notes and cosmic sounds strike lights on a huge, crushing stoned riff and snarling, snapping vocals rise from the rumble. Think a shot of black metal ripping in as Litmus play early Electric Wizard and you get the idea. The riff is superb and the vocals so much more animated than previously. It falls into strange quiet passage halfway through as though the song has slipped into the crawlspace between this world and the next, returning in dark clouds of wandering guitar and sombre growls, fading out on fuzz and melody and a spiral down into the abyss.

Yes I have issues with the shifts within tracks at times, but all three pull through in the end and leave you not just pleased but wanting more. Always a good sign. Fancy a bit of cosmic tinged, sludge stained funeral doom? Step this way.

Author: Gizmo

Review
Femfogacs
8.6/10
21.02.2012

A Septic Mind egy orosz duett, ahol Alexander Grigoryev gitározik és Michael Nagiev csinálja a fémzenékben szükséges egyéb feladatokat. Igaz, fémzenén itt valami nagyon nagy sűrűségű viszkózus folyékony fém-masszára kell gondolni időnként. Máskor meg kimondottan kellemes hallgatnivaló, de azt előre leszögezem, hogy életem egyik legfurcsább utazásában volt részem ezalatt a majd egy óra alatt, amíg a The True Call (amely cím a lemez első számának is a címe) szólt

Tehát milyen lehet, mikor a drone, a dark ambient és a funeral doom műfajokat házasítjuk? Ilyen.
A lemez első tételét, a több mint 25 perces Истинный Зов-t, ami érthetőbb nyelven annyit tesz, The True Call, egy még érthetőbben Az igaz hívás, már nem is atmoszféra, hanem egyfajta sugárzás öleli át. Én személy szerint ilyen hanghatással még sosem találkoztam. Az ének, illetve acsarkodás meg – egyszerűen nem találok jobb szót erre -, mintha el lenne kocsonyásítva. A dobolás nem is dobolás, hanem valami ütemes, nagyon lassú csapkodás, de nem rossz egyébként. Aztán a gitár elindul lépcsőzgetve… Fura ez az egész dolog, amire nem feltétlenül mondanám azt, hogy zene. A hatása viszont kolosszális. Egy sokszáz fényévnyi átmérőjű csillagködöt látok magam előtt ennél a résznél, de egy jó 15 perc után furán megváltozik a dal, bejön valami elektromos gerjedés, és a gitár (szinti?) belekezd ismét egyfajta dallamozgatásba. A 25 perc végén elképedve ülök, és bámulok magam elé. Elsőre még azt sem tudtam eldönteni, hogy tetszett-e.
Néha furcsán disszonáns itt ez az egész (k)rémség, meg rá van tolva az elbugyborékoltatós effekt is fokozásképpen. Feltekeri az agyamat egy hurkapálcára, aztán lehúzza róla, csomóra köti, majd felfújja karfiollá, kifordítja, összerágja, kiköpi, megtapossa.

De ez még csak az első adag.
Most jön a második szám, a Обречён Грешить, vagyis Bűnre ítélve (azt hiszem), aminek az eleje kicsit hasonlít a The Gathering Red Is A Slow Colour című dalának a kezdetére. Csak itt vagy tízszer addig tart. Három percen át tulajdonképpen normális zenét hallunk, aztán itt is kiborul a bili. Viszont teljes mértékben kihallható a vokalizálásból, hogy ember csinálja, és nem egy kopoltyús tarajos bivalyszerű csőrös gekkó. Hasonlít Nadír Vitya hangjára egyébként. Ez az a része a lemeznek, amit már én is kezdtem unni egy kicsit, viszont a vége érdekes.

Szerencsére már csak egy szám van a CD-n, így nem kell többet kínlódjak a ciril betűk beszenvedésével. Ennek címe az, hogy Планета Больна. Viszonylag jól lehet fordítani: Beteg bolygó. Ezt éreztem a legjobbnak. Itt a hörgés egy-két sora hihetetlenül beerősödik néha, de hallatszik, hogy direkt, mert ki is emelik sztereóba a monóból olyankor. A dal második fele nagyon jó, szó szerint szép.

A tökéletesen beváliumozott hangulat miatt az egész cucc olyan, mint egy lassított felvétel, de megmenti az, hogy a három szám nagyon különböző. Meg az, hogy eléggé betegesen egyedi dologról van azért szó. Amikor a gitárok gitárként működnek, akkor határozottan jól is szólnak, bár az nyilvánvaló, hogy a tiszta hangzás nem volt cél. Mégis elkülönül minden hangszer, nem válik egy nagy kásává a dolog.

A felvételek 2010-ben és 2011-ben készültek, majd a Solitude október 24-én úsztatta be az éterbe a lemezt.

Ha eddig azt javasoltam, hogy türelmesen hallgassunk zenét, hát most egyenesen az a javaslatom, hogy előtte aludjunk el, és kérjünk meg egy velünk egy háztartásban élőt, hogy közben indítsa el a háttérben a Septic Mind művészetét. Miután pontoztam, csak azután néztem meg, hogy Sick mennyit adott az előző lemezre
Kíváncsi vagyok, kinek fog ez még tetszeni rajtam kívül. Gondolkoztam, hogy linkeljek-e hangot, mert mint már fentebb említettem a három tétel nagyon különböző… Mindegy… Íme:

Author: Nagaarum