APOCRYPHAL VOICE – Pain & Pleasure
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 06-03-2015
This album received a bump up from its original 2013 self-release status from Inverse Records, and so we have "Pain & Pleasure" from Finnish duo Apocryphal Voice. Jagged dissonance, left-field blasts, and thick, blackened screams prevail on "A Failed Species", while there’s a semi-tribal stance in the percussion surrounding the progressive builder "Tongue of Kali". The snare sound is punchy, while the double bass very synthetic – and overall these 9 songs may take some time to fully wrap your head around.
It is nice to hear some sweeping bass runs, and Juhani Jokisalo as guitarist/bassist/keyboardist and vocalist wears his multiple duties in a high class manner. I think Apocryphal Voice will be one of those cult, slow building bands, because their brand of Avant-garde black metal is not for the simple minded. A grower for sure, "Pain & Pleasure" is dense in musicality yet delightful for outer fringe sonic obliteration.