Review: Schammasch – The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean
Good things come to those who wait.
Swiss band Schammasch is as multi-faceted as it is talented. Since their inception in 2009 they have released 5 full-length albums and one EP, the last release being Hearts of No Light from 2019. 5 years and a pandemic have passed since and their latest work, instead of being standalone, is a continuation of their 2017 EP The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite; however, this time it takes the form of a fully-fledged album.
The Maldoror Chants refers to the 19th century French long prose poem Les Chants de Maldoror by Comte de Lautrรฉamont, the pen name of Uruguayan-born French writer Isidore Lucien Ducasse. The work, through its violent, transgressive and absurd themes, is considered to be one of the first examples of Surrealism and as such, though obscure at its time of publication, influenced many voices of the Surrealist movement after World War I and, evidently, continues to do so. The poem primarily concerns Maldoror, a misotheistic, misanthropic incarnation of evil, and his observations of humanityโs depravity, but sometimes drifts away into passages of, for example, criticism of literary criticism and a hymn to the ocean. This hymn of praise is what Schammasch chose as the central theme for The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean.
Schammasch has always been a band characterized by spiritual and surrealist, dream-like songwriting, but this has never been quite on display as it is on Old Ocean. The vocal style ebbs and flows between almost accusatory tirades, heart-felt and laudatory chants, spoken word and ethereal whispers. This same structured chaos is applied to the instrumentation, which continues to build on the progressive elements Schammasch has been known for in the past years and which they especially started to bring into focus on Hearts of No Light. Notably, the album closer “I Hail You, Old Ocean,” shows the multi-faceted nature of their work, an atmospheric, melodic, blackened post-metal epic, which is interspersed with the triumphant themes of traditional heavy metal of all things. But it works, it all somehow works, and even with a runtime of 11 minutes doesnโt get boring.
However, I believe the biggest achievement of Old Ocean lies within the lyrics of the album. It is a treatise, an essay, on the beauty and nature of the ocean and how it relates to humanity. It is a deeply personal, introspective journey of a narrator, perhaps Maldoror himself, who has become disillusioned by humans and their arrogance and yearns to be close to the ocean, find a friend in it, as it is majestic, unchanging, non-judgmental, always in complete tranquility somewhere, even when stirred by a storm. It is an accusation and condemnation of human nature. A discourse on the absurdity of human existence and its creation. Stylistically, it mirrors the ranting qualities of the vocal style mentioned previously. It is an unabashed stream of consciousness of the narrator’s feelings.
In spite of that, there is not much that can be considered new on Old Ocean. It is a refinement of the ways paved by Hearts of No Light, for sure, but at the same time it is retreading those ways. However, I donโt believe a band has to reinvent itself on every release. On the contrary, I think it is only natural for a band that has been active as long as Schammasch has to settle into a certain groove and it certainly feels like Old Ocean represents the result of this process. Like most earlier albums, I suspect Old Ocean will continue to impress more with each repeated listen.
With Old Ocean, Schammasch have crafted a concise and polished album that is a more than worthy addition to their discography. Furthermore, I think it might be a quintessential example of their body of work. The worthwhile and captivating result of over a decade of experimentation and maturation, with the lyrical chops to cement this project as more than just a band amongst the manyโa unique expression of art.
4/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell
The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean released on October 25, 2024 through Prosthetic Records.
