Qrixkuor – Poison Palinopsia

9/10

‘Poison Palinopsia’ is a journey to be undertaken and it is by no means a casual listen.

Qrixkuor, a band whose pronunciation might get many tongues in a twist, have gone through a transformation over the past five years since their last release. With only the original guitarist ‘S.’ at the helm, DBH and VK of Grave Miasma and Vassafor fame respectively were recruited to join the ranks. As a result of this diabolic congregation, Qrixkuor’s first full length album came to life!

‘Poison Palinopsia‘ is ambitious to say the least. It consists of two tracks, each twenty-four minutes long. It proves that the band pursues and prioritizes its own creative interest rather than conforming to the norms. Qrixkuor are a death metal outfit alright, but in my opinion, they’re more of an “atmosphere” band than a “riffs” band. And by that I mean, the album sounds like a soundtrack made by an alternate reality Hans Zimmer who is a major fan of Portal, cavernous death metal and the like. Speaking of cavernous and black/death metal, I often come across bands going the extreme route to be “heavy” for the sake of it, but they eventually end up sounding try hard. I get no such vibes from Qrixkuor and it becomes eminently clear from the two tracks that the band’s aural nightmare of a sound feels very organically grown. It doesn’t seem to be intentionally inaccessible and it’s probably just how S, the founding member and main songwriter, views his brainchild.

The first track ‘Serpentine Susurrus – Mother’s Abomination’ opens up in an entrancing buildup, where the atmosphere grows suffocatingly with each passing minute. Around the sixth minute mark is when the tempo really kicks in highlighting the trio’s death metal roots. Midway in this twenty-four minute song, there’s a period to rest thy ears. Organ and ambient sounds take charge. I was expecting Phurpa-like mystical throat singing to intervene but that was just my mind playing tricks with me. ‘Serpentine Susurrus’ gets back on track with more blast beats with horrorific and ominous sounding guitar leads. The track culminates with haunting keys and fades away into oblivion.

The second track ‘Recrudescent Malevolence – Mother’s Illumination’ opens up in much the same manner as the first track had ended. Pound for pound, this track has more “musical instrumentation” and is loaded with guitar virtuosity. The leads, the tappings, the riffs, the pounding bass and drum onslaught all come together in this behemoth of a track. The orchestral outro is very fitting as the album-closer and it conjures up an image of a haunted playground about to get engulfed by something netherworldly!

The production is stellar on the album making it sound dark, brooding yet triumphant (in an evil way) while not compromising on the band’s grisly death metal roots. The instruments, the orchestral and atmospheric sounds meld perfectly together. I honestly can’t pinpoint a weakness in this album. Perhaps I’d say it’s a “black or white” album – it’s either something up your alley or it isn’t with nothing in between. ‘Poison Palinopsia’ is a journey to be undertaken and it is by no means a casual listen. It probably requires you to be in a certain frame of mind – let’s just say contemplative, reflective and brooding. At least that’s what worked for me. It took me at least a couple of listens for my appreciation to grow and I’d recommend putting in the time.

The album is out now on Invictus Productions as well as on Dark Descent and it sure will turn more than a couple of heads in the underground!

Originally posted on Tempelores.com