Tech-Death Don’t Miss This: De Lirium’s Order
I tried to tell you not to forget about this thing here but you did, didn’t you? Well now you’re going to hear about it again. But this is the last time, Donny, I swear, this time it’s on you and if you don’t pass now, you’re on your own. I’ve got bigger things to worry about, the damn readings are off the roof and if we don’t do something about something that godforsaken singularity’s going to envelop the whole damn town.
Look, I don’t regularly write about tech-death, and it’s not just because I don’t listen to all that much of it; it’s also because my vocabulary is limited, and I don’t like to chain together made up buzz words and spend the following three paragraphs justifying and explaining them. And being filled with little interest towards this particular corner (or corners, considering the vast differences between tech-death bands), I tend to quickly run out of things to say regarding albums, such as De Lirium’s Orders‘ Singularity, that I actually enjoy that also fit into this particular corner.
That is to say, I intend to be brief and you should excuse it and you should listen to this album right now. That’s it, hover your mouse on the play button above and press it. HOVER IT. There’s a good boy.
Singularity sees De Lirium’s Order embrace their tech-fluence further than ever before, and while there are moments of hard-hitting, even thrashy riffs, much of the album is spent exhibiting fretboard wizardry or going down a prog-hole exhibiting some of their newfound influences, while Kari Olli’s monotone vocals are broken up by cleans from messieurs M. Salo and M. Salonen. That is to say they’re not the kind of clean vocals one would expect to appear in this kind of music, yet they sound much better and more fitting than Lars Eikind’s performance on the Veniversum. Additional flair for drama is displayed with the use of synths alternating between melodramatic as all hell, symphonic and retro sci-fi soundtrack, as well as an accordion in “Acoustic Medley” and “Piazzolla.”
Speaking of Astor Piazzolla, whose “Libertango” is briefly covered in a track carrying his name before its completion and release (a long time before its completion and release), De Lirium’s Order mentioned they were going to fuse metal and flamenco on this record, and although the latter’s influence can be heard on select songs, I, for one, wouldn’t have minded if it had been a much stronger influence piercing, on average, most of the record’s songs. One of the few complaints I have about the record, and even so it’s not directed at anything that the album is, as much as it is towards false advertising. Another of the few would be thinking that cover art was a good idea. “Orion’s Cry'” -single’s much more restrained approach would have worked better, but taking an altogether different route would’ve probably been the best choice.
Many tech-heads might not feel like Singularity is the most novel tech-death album this year (I have similar feelings about a whole lot of albums you hype, so we’re square) but I find plenty to marvel at in the technical wizardry and oftentimes disjointed songwriting, Olli’s vocals and how Ukri Suvilehto of Abbath‘s work on the drums (although some of the drum performances are credited to riffmaster Kupiainen, so, programmed?) directs the compositions as to keep them from coming apart from the seams they often burst at. The synths, clean vocals, flamenco influence and disco bass solos, as non-repeating elements, replace hooks as individual moments of immediate engagement and memory latch.
Say hello to the band over at Facebook, or visit their Bandcamp page, either way, tell them we said “‘Sup.”
