The master of suicidal black metal returns with another twisted tale of madness, despair, isolation and pain. As usual, what stands out most is Wrest’s unmistakable voice. From album to album, Wrest is consistent in style and many songs would not feel out of place on any of his releases. If this kind of lack of “musical growth” is anathma to you, this style of music probably holds no appeal for you anyway. Me, I enjoy a band that can successfully maintain its formula sound album after album, assuming the songwriting maintains a high level of quality.

Overall he seems to be moving in a more ambient direction, but the simple structures that seem complex, the very obtrusive guitar with its bare boned melodies, and the loud bass are once again prominant. Chaos reigns but it is his mesmerizing quality that really draws you in. Often it is the distorted, ambient aspects that suck you in, but blasting, shrieking in your face blazing speed is what keeps you tuned in. The music has an organic feel, constantly changing, morphing, always interesting. Songs often flow into each other. The drums are more dominant this time, an improvement in sound quality over Tenth Sub Level, but not overpowering. “A Bouquet Of Blood For Skull” is slow, haunting, with heavy cymbal use, and is contrasted by the grating ambient noise, which sometimes gets abit much for my taste, like the end of “Deciphering Legend Within The Serpent’s Briar” but is always balanced by masterful haunting passages like “A Neccesary Mutilation,” which reminds me of classic Celtic Frost and is a nice interlude piece. On “Requiem For A Turd World” melodies that could be described as enticing lead into one of the harshest passages on the disc. The music swirls and flows from fast to slow with some great riffs and tons of edge of your seat energy.

My guess is that for most bands the title song is either their favorite or the one they think has the widest appeal, or they would not name the album after it. “Tentacles of Whorror,” makes me assume the former, because it is one of the least ‘metal’ tracks. It is slow, simple, mesmerizing, with of course the twistedly painful vocals, actually the least chaotic song on the album. The drumming picks up the pace nearly seven minutes in, but not thunderously. Favorite songs, “Cut, With The Night Into Mine Heart,” “Tentacles of Whorror (Revel the Tyrant),” “Requiem For A Turd World,” with that last one toping the list. An excellent album but I am having dificulty calling it superior to Verrater or The Tenth Sub Level Of Suicide.

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