
Seriously, this might pass for an acceptable rehearsal or live mix to a board, but it's ultimately just aural crud. I found it interesting that the band used such inanely lower vocals, but the song structures here are an incongruous mass of ideas that don't quite fit together. The band will saunter along, exploring some vapid, slow riff, and then drop out to transition to another black metal guitar line that fares little better ("This Means War"). The writing is redolent of early 90s Norwegian stuff like Mayhem, Burzum and Darkthrone, but I'm not sure that there's a single standout guitar part on this entire album. "Guardians Inhuman" itself is disjointed noise, and the clamor spreads to the irritating "Thou Art None" or the warmer, fuller but inevitably dull "I Am the One"...which I'd have thought would be their anthem towards greatness.
Sad to say, the very best track on this album is the closer, too obviously titled "Ambiance", which is naught more than some subtle, probing synthesizers, xylophone like runs and distant alarms or sirens droning off. To be truthful, I found this incredibly immersive despite the nonsense I had to sit through to arrive at it. Perhaps The One should consider a full ambient career? I'd certainly rather listen to that then what they've manifest for this debut. Crude, almost sporadic black metal is not necessarily unwelcome to mine ears, but this unfortunately goes beyond that to the realm of the truly forgettable. Weak music, weak lyrics, and abysmal atmosphere until the gleaming exemption of its endgame.
Verdict: Fail [4.75/10]
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