Mitochondrion - Antinumerology EP (2013)

It is the business of Canadians to be dangerous! Never in my wildest imagination could I envision such a friendly place (at least from all my experiences there) harbor such a grotesque extreme metal scene which has churned forth not only the superb Quebecois black metal, and a number of my favorites 80s thrash and speed metal bands, and...Jon Mikl Thor, but also a whole host of black/death and war metal acts. Not all of them are amazing, but they at least make it seem like there's some life left in attempts to bastardize and cross-pollinate genres and produce something worthwhile in all the chaos. Mitochondrion is no exception: their two full-lengths were quality mutations of cavernous death metal and atmospheric black nastiness, and through the Antinumerology EP they give us a hint of our dooms to come, well those of us who weren't already ended by Parasignosis. I was actually slain by that album but have an annoying tendency to brush off the ol' gravedirt and give it another go, eh? EH? See, dangerous.

This is short, tight, visceral, and just about everything you might have dug about the earlier albums albeit the variation and atmosphere might have been curbed at times in favor of incendiary directness, or about as direct as these dissonant blasphemers are going to get. The steady moving molasses of haunted notation and apocryphal, morbid and resonant gutturals is interjected with sequences of blasting excess, vulgar war metal which is so unfriendly as to stain the very fabric of Creation. Blasphemy meets Incantation with a few hints of Deathspell Omega. I felt that not only the compositional choices, but also the mix of this material seemed a little more raw and misshapen than the past albums, and I wouldn't say I favored that change, but at the same time those who were seeking a more angry and violent Mitochondrion will feel as if the mission has been accomplished. There's a strange trend here where as you get into the deeper minutes of content on the B-side, the material becomes more memorably atmospheric, and so I tended to enjoy the creepy title track which closed it out more than the first track "Insummation", but then that is the single most varied piece on the 7" so the mileage may vary.

It's all ugly, but then even the ugly ones need some loving once in awhile, and I don't imagine those cretins and misanthropes who turn to a band like Mitochondrion for consolation from the sanity and structure of the universe will feel highly disappointed with what they've written here. Personally, it's not as effective as hearing one of the full-lengths, because this is not necessarily a band I want to visit briefly...I'm more into full immersion in their disturbed minds, spending time in that uncomfortable universe where the impenetrable blackness between stars is ichor. Fell god-stuff, philosophical ruminations translated through alien minds. The Antinumerology did not sate me as much as listening through a full Mitochondrion record, or one of their foreign analogs like Portal or Impetuous Ritual. But as an horror d'ouvre to bridge the void between the British Columbians' more substantial journeys, this is a respectable, (dis)functional nightmareland.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.facebook.com/mitochondrion137

Mitochondrion - Parasignosis (2011)

Archaeaeon was easily one of the more distinct death metal albums in 2008, due to its balance of cavernous guttural vocals and fleshy, frantic compositions. However, Vancouver's Mitochondrion have outdone themselves with the followup, Parasignosis, a trip to spaces both dark and alien, discordant and enigmatic. If the shoe doesn't fit, then this album wears it, and the quality here is unfathomable, sure to rise the band's notoriety to the rafters. Essentially, the band cover a similar territory to old school, atmospheric death worshipers like Vasaeleth or the turbulent Portal, but they assert a progressive, mildly technical dominance, making use of excellent guitar leads and twisting structures that bridge the listener from the familiar to the shrouded nightmares of antiquity.

The trio of tracks that inaugurate this album, "Pestilentiam Intus Vocamus, Voluntatem Absolviumus Parts I-III" are simply indomitable, easily comprising the most interesting death metal I've heard thus far this year. "Plague Evockation (Part I)" layers groaning vocals with hostile, shimmering webs of guitar work that evolve into a mesmerizing, doom laden verse passage, with intense drums that remarkably hold their place, despite the rampant footwork and fills, behind the din of atmosphere that the vocals and strings carry. Eventually the track cruises into a choppy, Morbid Angel style rhythm, but even here, there are so many freakish sounds occurring against the backdrop that to stare straight at them would result in only madness. "Lex Ego Exitium (Part II)" meshes whispers at the edge of perception with lurching chugged guitars, and percussive panoramas, before a glaze of haunting melody and momentum breaks the extra terrestrial surface; and "Tetravirulence (Part III)" decks you with over 10 minutes of raging, throbbing extremity that feels like being simultaneously molested by every Elder God in the whole blasted Mythos.

If you've gotten that far, there are more forbidden pleasures to await you, in the spastic impulse of "Trials", the broiling sadism circus insanity of title track "Parasignosis", and the writhing extraplanar tendrils of "Kathenotheism", but I do feel like the first three are the strongest in lifting the listener to that otherworldly catacomb of menace that Mitochondrion's membership seems to lord over. The production of the album is superb, capturing each gleaming ray of the unknown alongside the depths of the bottom end, and the trio's musicianship is just as prevalent as the debut. Profound Lore seems a good home for the Canadian act, with their unusual audio ethics and pseudo intellectual mind fucking, but unlike half of the label's roster, these gentlemen do not compose overblown, boring alternative black metal for bohemians sporting keffiyeh. This is ominous, titillating brutality with only small hints at exterior genres, sure to please both the practiced necronaut and the most disturbed death metal debutante.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

http://www.myspace.com/mitochondrion

Mitochondrion - Archaeaeon (2008)

I have to give some credit here, it's not every day I hear an album so disturbing it can frighten me, yet still having an air of melodic grace. Archaeaeon is one such album, and this is one fucked up band. The Canadians offer a debut of brutal death and black metal where the rules are pretty much anything goes.

For much of the playtime, it's dense and dark death metal with multiple snarl and growl vocals over a grinding miasma of aural holocaust: brutal drumming and savage guitars. But they have moments where this ellipses into melody, or acoustics, or dark, swelling ambient. A few examples would be the center of "Into the Pit of Babel", where things slow to a crawl and the guttural vocals and snarl paint a sad mural over some acoustics and simpler drumming, before erupting into a vile blackish riff and spooky whispered vocals. "Oath in Defiance" morphs into "Descent...", a dark, minimal ambient piece which would do Mortiis proud until the doom guitars and horrific vocals layer on.

Be prepared for a very dark ride with this one, but a captivating journey nonetheless. I was at times reminded of dISEMBOWELMENT, Demilich, and early Septic Flesh, at others the wealth of bedroom black metal out there. The album has a very DIY production to it but honestly, that's the way to do something like this. Anyway, it ruined a perfectly cheery afternoon for me and I hope it can do the same for you.

Verdict: Win (8/10)

http://www.myspace.com/mitochondrion