All hail the full-length album debut of Seattle’s 7 Horns 7 Eyes who bring a staunch up-your-ass aesthetic to a decaying death metal scene. Think Meshuggah or Katatonia. Vocalist Shiv Polacheck IV hardly sounds human and that’s a good thing. Between the lightning guitars of Aaron Smith/Sean Alf and the thunder of the Brandon Smith/Ryan Wood bass/drum monster, Shiv’s guttural barks are riveting enough to incite a sit-up-and-take-notice brand of attention as well as comic relief.
Down deep, this is one Major League entertaining band. The arrangements twist and turn like winding hallways in a carnival funhouse. You won’t understand one lyric of tracks like “A Finite Grasp Of Infinite Disillusion,” “Divine Amnesty,” “Phumis: The Falsehood Of Affliction” and five others until you read the lyrics but listen again while reading and worlds are revealed. In so doing, Throes Of Absolution can be taken on numerous levels: pure inchoate sound and fury and/or a meditation upon the fallibility of us mere mortals. I prefer the former but knock yourself out. The closing “Regeneration” instrumental is alone worth the price of admission.
Label: Century Media — CD format and/or MP3 download can be ordered by clicking here.
