Esoteric - Paragon Of Dissonance

 

Artist: Esoteric
Album: Paragon Of Dissonance

Label: Season Of Mist
Year 2011

Esoteric are not an easy band to get into. Their music is extremely oppressive doom metal that is disgustingly heavy, at times gorgeously cinematic, and always epic in scope. Every three or four years they release another colossal hour and a half long album with like 7 songs on it that proceed to suffocate the life force of the listener in their own cranky and miserable way. Led by guitarist/vocalist Greg Chandler and multi-instrumentalist Gordon Bicknell, they hail from the lung-blackening air of Birmingham, England. They use gigantic, deliberate drums and roaring walls of extremely downtuned and distorted guitar and bass, all topped by tormented vocals wrung through a battery of spacey effects. At times they’ve incorporated psychedelic interludes, progressive ambition, ambient drift, extensive use of keys and raw noise much like their American peers Neurosis. But while those guys started out playing hardcore punk and imbue their compositions with an elemental ferocity which is only made possible by an agile rhythm section ramping up the tempos, Esoteric never seem to rise beyond a crawl. Every moment, every bar of their music is massive, deliberate, and inexorable.

Paragon of Dissonance (fantastic title, by the way) was my first real experience with the band. I’ve been peripherally aware of them and what they were about for years, but didn’t get around to giving them a proper listen until a friend started talking them up to me a few months ago. When listening to a new album by a band that has long since-secured its legacy, one will often find themselves comparing it to previous triumphs. The question then becomes, “Does it measure up?” But when I’m new to a band, I like knowing what they’re up to now. And I can say this… Paragon of Dissonance is a fine introduction to a band whose every move is planet-sized. It’s a double album, like most of their records, and incorporates all the sounds and scope that fans of the band have come to expect. The tracks are long, with many twisting, suite-like arrangements that morph and transform and crush with relentless purpose. The intensity of the band is thrilling, and their ability to fold different layers and textures into the immense towers of sludge and overdriven fuzz that make up most of their sound means their records can sustain interest. What’s more, their patience allows them room for them to explore and try different ideas. It doesn’t always work, and sometimes you can find yourself getting numbed by the immensity of it all. But when given a close, active listen all of these tracks have incredible power as well as fascinating stylistic detours.

The album opens with the jagged, staggering riffs of “Abandonment” as spirals of feedback peel off and pounding double bass rolls devastate the landscape. Tortured, throaty vocals erupt bile and hatred over the proceedings. It’s all harshness, abrasive noise, impossible sonic decimation and hopelessness. But Esoteric can be tuneful too. Soon the song drops into a grandly epic doom trudge that recalls Paradise Lost, or Candlemass with Mike Williams from Eyehategod fronting the band. At 13 minutes it makes for an intimidating order, but if you take a gander at the run times for these songs, it’s pretty much par for the course; 5 of the 7 tracks top 10 minutes. Sometimes it seems as though the band is simply marching into infinity, though when the payoffs emerge, they’re generally pretty astonishing. As the band builds to a mighty finale, the toms are hammered relentlessly before the drummer launches into another grinding double bass assault and a triumphant figure emerges from the tangled morass of guitars and noise.

It becomes clear pretty quickly that Esoteric are not a band who plays slow and heavy because that’s all they can handle. These guys can really play. Many of these tracks have complicated polyrhythms, and tempos shift on a dime. It’s tight, complex, and adventurous music. Although they are used sparingly, the guitar solos here are very accomplished, showing a musical, neo-classical sensibility. Esoteric are a masterfully controlled group who are not afraid to grind an idea into dust. Such an approach for skilled players takes tremendous patience and discipline.

The album’s centerpiece is the 15 minute behemoth “Disconsolate” which encompasses everything Esoteric do well. The track opens with glacial synths that sketch ghostly figures across the night sky. Phashed guitars begin to mesh with the echoing synth waves. The affect is akin to seeing one’s breath on a winter’s day. The band members enter one at a time at a measured pace. A few minutes in, a lovely piano-led space interlude floats by, before it is swallowed by the monolithic riffage that one would expect. They begin building to the main theme of the song, cruising on a Neurosis-style cosmic doom passage that while not exactly uplifiting, is also not depressive. Somewhere along the way though, the bottom drops out, and suddenly we’re being suffocated in misery. This switch up is accomplished with masterful feel for timing and impressive subtlety. It’s surprising, and it’s powerful. About halfway through, it lurches into a blackened, thrashy kind of gallop, before settling back into a spacy, ambient drift. It’s a feint though. A few moments later, a million of the heaviest guitars in the universe flatten the listener with galaxy-crushing force. You might see the switch-up coming a mile away, but it’s thrilling nonetheless. And that’s what makes Esoteric great – the ability to recombine familiar ingredients in ways that still have the power to excite. A doom riff soon oozes out of the mire, as the drums begin their relentless march, and despondent, torturous vocals wallow in the quagmire of distortion. When the whole thing collapses into a wandering, searching psychedelic bridge, it’s only a breather, albeit one that finds time to show off some gorgeous lead tones. Soon the band ramps up the tempo, pummeling with grinding double bass rolls and slabs of thick, brutal guitars and heavily swollen bass. Ultimately, the track climaxes with a fleet-fingered classic metal tapestry worthy of Iron Maiden, topped by a thrilling, heroic guitar solo.

This thing tops out at an hour and thirty-four minutes, and it’s not exactly something you can listen to on your way to work. There is nothing particularly pleasant or hummable about these songs. Every song sounds like the end of the world, with the band summoning all of their skill to evoke utter annihilation. It’s a daunting listen, and one than can be outright exhausting at times. But there is a place for music like this, even if it ‘aint houseparties. Paragon of Dissonance evokes certain moods of despair and hatred that we feel in our everyday lives.  Because sometimes, life is just a terrible disappointment, and you wish everyone who was on your case was just fucking dead.