In_zekT - Artifex |self-released, 2013| 5/5
01. Strain Reactor, 02. ARTIFEX, 03. Sub-Humanist, 04. Overman, 05.
Dialling the North Code, 06. Ionize, 07. Termination Sequence, 08. No
Fate But What We Make, 09. This is Not an Exit, 10. [0]
Norwegian metal is best known for its straight-forward, merciless sound.
It's no different here. This is one terrific album that takes what's
best in industrial/cyber metal (raw anger, repetitions, sampling, SFX)
and djent (atonal, down-tuned, stretched, syncopated guitar riffs) to a
new level, creating a fresh, yet to be named genre.
In_zekT was founded in Norway in 2002. They started with a slightly
different line-up, and their music initially sounded differently, too. A
chance to meet
Ministry's founder Al Jourgensen in 2003 had resulted in having Luc Van Acker (his mate from
Revolting Cocks) produce In_zekT's debut release back then. Also
Chris Vrenna (Tweaker) was involved in mixing one of the band's albums.
Artifex
however, begins a new, more extreme chapter in the band's career with
two musicians in the line-up: Peter Vindel (lead vocals, guitars, synth,
programming, sampling) and Kjetil Ottersen (vocals, guitars, synth,
programming, sampling).
The first song leaves no space for guessing how the new chapter is being
developed. "Strain Reactor" is a deeply guitar driven track, but the
riffs are distorted by various effects and modifications making them
sound industrial. Also vocals, delivered by guest vocalist Secthdamon,
are slightly altered. The arrangements change and build up a solid,
tight composition without overwhelming the listener.
"Artifex" starts with alarming, howling sirens. Then, electrifying
guitar riffs along with drums and distorted vocals jump to the fore. The
density of riffs, but also the combo of drumbeats and synths resemble
motifs better known from newer
Ministry and older
Nine Inch Nails
songs (the latter is specifically audible in the final part). The
arrangements vary throughout the track, and the composition method makes
it possible to avoid excessive repetitions. The bands operates with
anger, tension, turmoil and silence very well.
"Sub-Humanist" erupts with no pause between the tracks. In fact, the
rhythm keeps pumping so dynamically, that you'll probably begin
headbanging right away. There are elements of thrash metal and a very
little bit of electro, stimulated with modified, screamed vocals as
well. The whole set is energizing and memorable, therefore I personally
vote for "Sub-Humanist" as the best song on Artifex - at least when
speaking of its 'metal' flavour.
After such a big dose of aggression, you may think that the musicians
reached their limits and the next track can't be performed even more
fiercely. Wrong. Each following song seems to sound angrier. "Overman"
takes you on the first excursion into the world of dark tunes on this
album - only at the beginning though, because wicked ferocity quickly
breaks through the cinematic atmosphere. Buzzing, feedbacky, noisy
industrial effects are sampled into the song, matching the other
arrangements perfectly. Technically, some themes were gently borrowed
from Fear Factory, but spiced up with In_zekT's own flavour.
Possibly to avoid a further escalation of mad energy, "Dialling the
North Code" suddenly appears in a strangely fitting place on the
tracklist. It's a dark ambient soundscape partly kept in vein of Mark
Morgan's music (think of soundtracks to such classical video games as
Fallout or
Planescape: Torment).
The cinematic, cold mood is enriched with deep thumping drones and
undoubtedly reflects a story - one your mind may create when inspired by
these dark sounds. Test your imagination. It's also an excellent track
for a science-fiction movie or an artistic installation.
After the dour break, buzzing guitars make a return. "Ionize" begins
with a shattered wave of mechanical drumbeats (there is no human drummer
present in the band) followed by distorted vocals, guitars and
minimally present synths. The beginning of the song sounds rather
monotonous, regardless of its expressive fury. However, the track grows
in time thanks to tempo changes, arrangement placements and guitars that
occupy increasingly more space within the composition. There are
powerful riffs in the middle of the song, while its ending is marked
with significant fade out and silence.
Now, it's time for the apogee. A composition of "Termination Sequence"
is long, for a reason. At first, it reflects what's labeled as cyber
metal or futuristic metal thanks to specific sound effects mixed into
the guitar driven arrangements (with a guest solo by Archaon) and a
fiery performance. It then falls into an intriguing abyss of dark
ambient soundscapes - drones, tiny buzzing, haunting passages, motifs of
ocean and outer space, etc. - the mood changes drastically. The
musicians deserve a standing ovation for the way they morph the end of
the dark ambient part with the arrangement that follows, seamlessly
leading through industrial tunes into metal again. The band accumulates
all the features present in previous songs - diversified arrangements, a
murky atmosphere and an explosive blast in the darkness. Not many metal
artists can do it skillfully but In-zekT prove themselves. "Termination
Sequence" is the other best track on the album, in terms of its overall
value.
"No Fate But What We Make" begins with a healthy heartbeat, followed by
sampling and altered, piercing guitar riffs as heard in some djent
compositions. Vocals are slightly modified with distortions and SFX. The
overall dynamics resembles a thunderstorm, yet changes throughout the
track, including ambient passages. The middle of the song is melodic and
memorable, with soft and gentle vocals. Yet another excellent
conjunction between this and the return of guitars calls for respecting
the musicians' skills.
The final two compositions, "This is Not an Exit" and "[0]" include a
fair share of electronic and experimental sounds with additional samples
provided by Vegard Dølerud. Guitars and metal arrangements appear
throughout both compositions.
"[0]" is a noisy limbo, as experienced by someone attached to a rotary
drill digging a corridor in a coal mine. The noise however slowly loses
its dirty, confusing power to gain a dark ambient atmosphere in the end.
It's a 22-minute long composition (that's how professional noise
composers do it - check out i.e. the maestro known as Merzbow) - it may
sound tiresome for most, but fans of experimental music should
appreciate it.
In_zekT's artistic need for expression forged into
Artifex
resulted in a powerful, yelling blast and cold furious sounds
penetrating deep enough to re-program your DNA - all that to make you
remember their songs for a long time.
Artifex keeps a perfect
balance. The trick here is that both passionate and dark sounds build up
a contrast which makes arrangements/songs emphasize one another.
Moreover, this creates an acceptable tension, a method commonly used in
classical music compositions.
This release is available in both digital and physical formats
(digipack). Don't steal it, buy it. Support the band, because they turn
their brainstorming into innovative music, successfully. The high
quality of mastering and production (done by Peter and Kjetil with an
additional engineering of Ronny Furuseth Kaasa) should help the album
climb high in alternative music rankings.
(Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz, Fabryka Magazine, February 18th, 2014. Proofreading: Mike 'Vesper' Dziewoński)
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Reviewed by
Fabryka Music Magazine
