Vesania
Distractive
Killusions
I guess I must really like reviewing bands’ third albums,
and I try to refrain from reviewing albums that aren’t extremely recent, but I
couldn’t help myself with this one. Anyway, today I’ll be sitting down to
review Vesania’s most recent album, released in 2007, titled Distractive Killusions. First, most
people may know Vesania because of the fact that it is Orion’s – yes, the
monstrous bassist from Behemoth – and Daray’s – well-known drummer who has been
involved with Vader and Dimmu Borgir, to name a few – band. Often mistaken as a
“supergroup”, Vesania has been around since 1997 and plays a mixture of
symphonic black and symphonic death metal. Distractive
tends to lean more towards the latter of the two, most especially with
Orion’s vocals, and is my favorite album from the band, trumping even its
much-hailed predecessor, God the Lux,
which is another great album in its own right. Fitting in with the band’s small
but ultimately incredible discography established before it, Distractive Killusions takes listeners on a wild ride through the demented and
insane (hence the band’s name, which is Latin for “insanity”) that leaves your
heart thudding and withered brain hungering for more.
I began with this album (and thus the band itself, as
D.K. was my first exposure to Vesania) with the third track, “Infinity Horizon”,
thinking something along the lines of ‘okay, this has to be good, I mean it has
Orion and Daray in it…’ but, being that I’m extremely, extremely picky (pickiness is not to be confused with elitism) when
it comes to what music I like, I didn’t think I would like it as much as I
actually do. In fact, I liked it so much that I actually bought it the very
same night I first heard “Infinity Horizon”. So what was it about this album
that drove me into a fit of ‘oh my god oh my god oh my god I need this album in my collection now’? Well, if you want the truth, it
was everything. I considered everything about this album to be as close as you
could possibly get to symphonic death metal perfection. Orion’s vocals are impeccable,
his lyrics and phenomenal, Daray’s drumming is not annoyingly dominating
(unsurprisingly), the keyboards are fantastic (don’t think symphonic like
Carach Angren symphonic, think more Devilish Impressions or Emperor symphonic),
the guitar riffs are consistently enjoyable, you can hear the bass, the atmosphere is constantly worthy of
applause, even the artwork and song titles are great.
So let’s tackle them one by one.
The album starts off with “Narrenschyff” (German with
alternative spelling for “ship of fools”), a moderately-paced piece that has
blast beats sprinkled in occasionally and tastefully until about the halfway
mark where they become more frequent. Siegmar’s keyboards tend to be at the
forefront whenever Orion is not at the mic and is instead serenading you with simplistic
yet enjoyable guitar riffs alongside Valeo, however Heinrich’s bass is not as
audible here as on other tracks. The most memorable part of this song is
definitely Orion’s psychotic laughter about a third of the way through, which
sets the perfect mood for this album, throughout which I couldn’t help but
think of it as a roller coaster ride through a demented carnival. This mood is
only sustained during the following track, “The Dawnfall (Hamartia and Hybris)”,
for which I am a total sucker.
“The Dawnfall” is where Heinrich is certainly more
audible throughout, though the track is not much faster than the one preceding
it. I’m not exactly complaining over that, as it gives this sort of dreary
feel, especially when the vocals come in. Allow me to dissect them a little, as
I am an undeniably huge fan of Orion as a vocalist:
During the chorus, which utilizes a stanza of
Oscar Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol
which is one reason why I am such a sucker for this song, when he occasionally opts
to participate in the entire verse, Orion is echoed by a spoken recitation of
the same verse. Those times that he does not, he intermittently growls the
words “each man kills”, which, combined with the dry, lifeless spoken
recitation, creates a feeling of despair. About three-fourths of the way through the
song, Orion himself begins to sound helpless and hopeless, as his growls become
more purposely deflated and slow, adding only to the grim edge of the doomy
keyboards.
After the second time the chorus is sung, there we have
our guitar solo, followed by the chorus again, so this song’s lyrics rely
heavily on chorus repetition. The guitar solo is a nice touch, very enjoyable,
though nothing too obnoxiously complex. It, as well as the one that follows on “Infinity
Horizon”, does earn Valeo some praise, however.
“Infinity Horizon” is where this album finally picks up,
as Daray relies heavily on blast beats, at least until about the midway point
where the keyboards become hypnotic behind a breakdown that lasts for almost
the rest of the song, interrupted only by Orion performing the last verse. His
vocals are a little layered here, with them becoming a bit raspy as they fade
out. It’s obvious the keyboards are meant to be the focal point of this song,
although this is probably what keeps this song from being a favorite. It does
tend to get just a little repetitive, and finally ends just before you’re about
to check how much time is left until it’s over. Enjoyable nonetheless, but not
exactly a favorite. I prefer the first half of the song to the second.
Anyway, immediately after this, Vesania dives right back
into the fun and insanity with “Rage of Reason”. Orion comes right at you with
his vicious roars, and actually sounds like he’s have a ton of fun with this
song, most especially at the beginning and end. Of course, with this song’s
lyrics, who could blame him? If he hasn’t already, he certainly proves to be a
wonderful lyricist with this song, and the fact that he sounds as though he’s
enjoying his song makes you more inclined to enjoy it, too. This one uses a
quote from John Milton’s Paradise Lost,
and, with it and the verse following it, subtly hints towards his irreligious
ideology. The vocals then become low, reduced almost to daring whispers that
are interrupted by bursts of angry roars. This
is the song that makes me think “demented carnival”, because of the keyboards
that are present about halfway through that accompany Orion’s alternating
whispers and roars, and the rest of the keyboards I would have liked were they
a bit louder in the mix, as they are quite good, though they are still clear
and audible. The riffs are, again, simple and wonderful, and the bass is still
audible. The latter of the two definitely starts racking up some points for
this album, as most bassists go unheard in most studio recordings. I guess
Orion didn’t want to share his pain with Heinrich? Whatever the reason, I’m
glad it exists.
“Rage of Reason” fades out with some fabricated wind into
“Of Bitterness and Clarity”, where the drums are keeping with switching back
and forth between blast beats and slower rhythms. They usher the listener into
the track before some very symphonic keyboards find themselves at the forefront
of the song, overshadowing everything until Orion comes back in and demands all
the attention. This track, to me, seemed a bit like a constant fight for
dominance between everyone except Heinrich, as there were articulate keyboards
between verses, blast beats during verses, and riffs during verses that may
have better fit being in spots without vocals. Valeo delivers another great
solo, so now the attention is shifted to him for a time, until Orion starts
building his vocals up again, slowly rising above everyone else until he fades
out again, as if he was trying to rise to the position of mediator to get
everyone to come together and harmonize. It worked, really well, as everyone is
then on the same page until the end of the song. Heinrich then isn’t afraid to
let himself be heard, and everyone comes together for the last 30 seconds of
the track to create a much harmonized symphony that balances everything out. I
wouldn’t exactly call this song a “hodgepodge” as some people may misconceive,
but I wouldn’t call it my favorite track, either. It was not a cluttered fight
for dominance, but instead a rather organized one that was, compared to other
songs, just a little weak lyrically. The message it possesses is not entirely
clear until the second or third verse. For what it is, it is pretty enjoyable
despite that it may seem as though I’ve said the contrary, and may take a few
extra listens to really appreciate.
Track six brings us “Silence Makes Noise (Eternity – The Mood)”,
another great track. Daray continues on as he’s been, though blast beats are a
bit more common on this track than some others. The keyboards are a bit buried
beneath everything else in order to create a desperate, frantic sort of
atmosphere, and I think there’s even a guitar solo somewhere amongst the
craziness which is obviously not meant to be the focal point of the track. Orion
was the one that dragged us into this scary place, standing alone to speak the
first words of the lyrics, “heartbeat, arrhythmic”, which sets off the noisy
descent into madness. This is where I have some negative critique for this
song, as it took me several listens in order to actually enjoy the first bit
after Orion first speaks. There’s some sort of techno-like, fake heartbeat
thudding thing…I don’t really even know what the hell to call it during the first
few seconds of the song that seems a bit strange. Besides that, though, it is a
really great track. We even get to hear a bit of Orion’s shrieks halfway
through (they seem to adore the halfway mark of songs for some reason), as well
as the three-quarter mark, though for more of that you’d have to refer
primarily back to the first album, Firefrost
Arcanum. Orion leads us out again with a more soothing voice, almost as if
he’s bidding a solemn farewell to someone. Fair warning, though: if you listen
to this track at a high volume, prepare your ears for the strange high-pitched…sound
at the very, very end. (It must also be mentioned that the lyrics on this track
were not original compositions of Orion’s, but were instead translated by him and written by T.
Wroczynski.)
“Hell is for Children” comes next, featuring someone by
the name of Pitor Gibner on vocals, though it is extremely hard to tell that it’s
a different person except for his enunciation despite his very obvious accent.
Orion hides his accent rather well while Gibner really does not, but that’s
perfectly okay in this song, as it adds to the all ‘round evil feel of it. Even
the name is somewhat daunting and condescending. Really, it’s a clever phrase
that is summed up within the last verse:
So
easily you play with evil
You
read the names aloud
All
your toys are black
Rebellion
for show
Hell
that you talk about
Ain’t
no evil
And
let me tell you:
You
have seen nothing of evil
This
Hell is for children
“Aesthesis” is the final actual song on this album, and
is arguably the heaviest. The keyboards are almost dizzying yet beautiful, as
if your mind is finally beginning to accept the insanity forced unto it. They
are the definite highlight of the track, and you have to respect Siegmar for
his work. Orion forces his voice lower than on any other song on the album, and
we do hear a very minimal amount of layering where he blends the low with the
regular before raising it a bit again. Still not shrieking to the caliber of Firefrost Arcanum, so it’s safe to say
he prefers growling, which is just as great. Most of the guitar work consists
of a rather fast-paced breakdown during verses, which makes it very easy to
find yourself nodding along to the song. The drums meld with this perfectly
during verses, and accent the keyboards with more prominent blast beats
whenever Orion is sort of groaning the lyrics. A great track that has some very
quotable lyrics and a catchy chorus that you can imagine fans screaming along
to during shows.
“Aesthesis” ends by fading into the very last track, “Distractive
Cryscendo”. This track can’t really be called a “song”, as the last one left
standing is Siegmar, who himself eventually fades off into nothingness. Most of
the track is a cacophony of echoing, mocking laughter, as if from an audience
of sorts, accompanied by the ever-increasing ticking of clocks. It starts with
one clock rising amidst the laughter much like Orion did on “Of Bitterness and
Clarity”, then increases pace and number until the crowd falls silent and the
clocks eventually tick for the last time and fade out to signify the end of the
album. It’s a very unique closing track, and very fitting, though it’s
perfectly understandable if you were to skip it while your iPod was on shuffle.
All in all, I give this album a 9.3/10 (93%, as I used
percentages on my previous reviews). It was extremely enjoyable and does not
bore easily. You’ll probably wish that Orion and Daray had more time to spend
on Vesania to create some more great albums such as this if you listen to it,
but will be sated well with this and its predecessors.
Noteworthy Tracks:
Track One: “Narrenschyff”
Track Two: “The Dawnfall (Hamartia and Hybris)”
Track Four: “Rage of Reason”
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