Riddle of Meander - Orcus (2008)

Albums named after daemon princes have a particular standard of menace and diabolism to live up to, and I'm not sure Riddle of Meander's sophomore outing justifies itself with quite enough of that craven hostility. Sure, it's a brutal, fast paced record with grimy vocals and thick, fuzzy riffs over almost constant blasted acceleration, but it becomes monotonous in very short order, and does not only fail to live up to its title, but even to match their 2006 debut, End of All Life and Creation, which was admittedly decent. I can get over the cartoon-like, bullet-belted posterboy with his inverted cross and spiteful glare, but I just can't get past how tedious the music becomes with such a dearth of variation. As hate fueled and hyperactive as it often sounds, Orcus just doesn't earn its name.

I often became more enthralled by the steady barking, bloody sounded vocals than the music that was ramming along beneath them. Sure, Riddle of Meander have riffs aplenty in their retinue, they don't simply hammer along the same course for 5 or 6 minutes at a time. The guitars have a structured formula that they follow, though they at least switch notes. But there is a general lack of rhythmic variety in pieces like "I Am the Key and the Gate" or "Incruente Immolatur" which leaves much to be desired when one is spending 5+ minutes listening. Better are tunes like "Maniacal Possession", which at least has a functioning breakdown, or "Eclipse in Witchcraft", which crafts a hellish, glorious march melody into its bowels. They don't always just blast endlessly, mind you, they channel in a lot of double-bass slowdowns, but the riffs that manifest in these sequences are themselves hardly noteworthy.

In general, think of a mixture of Ulver's Nattens Madrigal with a more forcefully produced band like, say, Marduk. You get that fuzzy, textured distortion of the former at a far higher standard of production, but with the latter's old tendency to whip out acceptable riffing that seems a few twists and turns short of burning itself into your brain. As an example of faster paced, tightened precision and utter spitting vocal blasphemy, Orcus is no slouch. I enjoy the resonant hostility of the vocals, and the production in general. But the guitars simply don't weave themselves into patterns that threaten or titillate the memory, so in the end we've got yet another average and samey feeling record which, in a younger genre, might have developed a cult following. But here, almost 12-15 years too late, it just doesn't possess the staying power it needs, even if there is nothing necessarily bad about it. Go for the debut over this one.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

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Riddle of Meander - End of All Life and Creation (2006)

Riddle of Meander is another member of the strictly by-the-book black metal movement, offering nothing above or beyond its peers or influences. But I'd be dishonest to neglect a few particulars about the Greeks that I do enjoy. For one, the band's name itself is curious and distinct among such a crowded field. I sort of like the sloppy, barbaric logo the band is sporting. The cover her is great, naught more than a lit candelabra imposed over ancient, creepy stone architecture. It all calls to the loneliness and impenetrable isolation of the 90s tradition, where empty castle walls, cathedrals and desolate wilderness locales gleaned at the listener, beckoning them into the emptiness and abandonment. To a degree, End of All Life and Creation even mirrors this aesthetic in its musical discourse.

That's not to imply anything out of ordinary, because what you're getting here is the same tried and tested, philistine nihilism inherent in hundreds of other bands to dawn into the 21st century beneath the swollen stalactites (and legacies) of their forebears. End of All Life and Creation does possess a particular clarity for this style of underground black metal. The guitars are clean and crisp, the drums tinny but efficient, and the bass curves lightly below the onrush of curves. The vocals are absolutely nothing special, but their bloody and pain-inflected enough to make their points. The songwriting here revolves largely around the mid to fast paced charging maneuvers typical of the Norse and Swedish-influenced followings, but you'll also get serving moments of slower, despotic grooves that follow in the mold of Hellhammer or old Darkthrone. Riddle of Meander feels somewhat less barren than a number of their contemporaries, in that they vary up the riffing enough within each individual track to maintain the audience's attention.

If they write a longer song ("Superior Black Flame", "Immortal Hate") you can expect a number of dynamics, from streaks of windier, icier desperation to bleak and tranquil segues of cleaner tones guitars that offer a momentary pause from the storm of sadism. In fact, these cleans are used to provide much of the 'ambiance' of the overall album, in place of the traditional synthetic pipe organs and choirs. Samples of bells or breezes are also used conservatively, so you really do feel that you're lost within the morbid, archaic edifice hinted at by the cover, and this is truly the selling point of the record. Huge riffs, memorable levels of torture and atmosphere are not to be found very often throughout the debut, but if you're simply seeking something to channel your imagination from the belly of monotonous, urban/suburban decay into the alcoves of Satanic tyranny and oppression, End of All Life and Creation makes a feasible attempt to live up to its title.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

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