Esoteric - Paragon Of Dissonance review
| Band: | Esoteric |
| Album: | Paragon Of Dissonance |
| Style: | Funeral doom metal, Psychedelic doom metal |
| Release date: | November 2011 |
Disc I
01. Abandonment
02. Loss Of Will
03. Cipher
04. Non Being
Disc II
01. Aberration
02. Disconsolate
03. A Torrent Of Ills
Being around for almost 20 years, Esoteric never were in a hurry to release as many albums as they could every 1-2 years. For some artists the burden of the aforementioned title is grandiose and they'd never exchange not even a bit of their quality for quantity. Esoteric belong to this group, they always took their time to bring together the main concept of every album and place in the right place at the right time all the ideas and emotions that were overrunning them at the time. And whenever it felt right a new work was coming our way to cleanse the band's world and torment the audience with all this sense of decay, horrid beauty and decomposition of morals transformed into vast fields of devastating soundscapes. So, almost 20 years of existence gave birth to 6 abhorrent children, with the successor to the throne being the newborn Paragon Of Dissonance, from the same septic womb, with the same unearthly stare, but with its very own personality and characteristics.
This time Esoteric depict a different mask of the same lurking plague: the face is still the same, it's the outer contours that are dressed up for the occasion. The once omnipresent erupting hatred and diametric negativity have surrendered and vibes hiding deep inside have come to the surface. Paragon Of Dissonance stands undressed; no more will to keep inside all the internal affairs that had been boiling for years now. It's all about a sincere meltdown and it's everywhere; not only breathing through the lyrics but also unveiling through the music as well. There's no shame in a confession, only purity.
They live up to the soul-crushing and devastating standards they set from their very beginning, what differs is the prism through which the overall atmosphere is being filtered. Paragon Of Dissonance is more gracious and fragile than its predecessors that were remorseless whenever given the chance; and they had their chances quite often. Intensity still lingers inside these sound corridors and it's being faceted through exploding introvert bleakness. The overburdened ambiance won't cease existing but what the band's trying to achieve and succeeds in has to be the fact that they can always relent to moments of well-conceived and well-executed melody. This works as some kind of release for both the band and the listener and lends a story-flowing factor at same time. Even the song titles consist of a natural flow as they march one after the other in a row.
The guitars play a major role in the ambiance factor either with their heavily distorted lurking aesthetic or the diving leads and soloing ideas that possess an Anatolian air at times and the overwhelming melodies that escort your soul to your very own imaginary asylum. The effects, the slight but spot on keyboard glimpses and the echo evoke depth and a sense of mystery whereas the concurrent entrance per musical meter of the imposing drum beat and percussion alongside the devastating grunts deliver both intensity and emotional charge. It's a devouring state of constant clarity; rewarding, entrusting, captivating. Everybody's pouring himself in the overall outcome; from Greg Chandler's entrancing interpretation to his combo with Jim Nolan on the guitars and Mark Bodossian's (of Mournful Congregation, Pantheïst fame) dreary pulses as an ensemble to Joe Fletcher's unerring, imposing, and creative drumming.
Paragon Of Dissonance clocks over one hour and a half and as expected, it consists of two discs that set sail on pleasing both the senses and the ears of the funeral doom/death community. Esoteric managed once again to secure their sound perimeter by forging a giant with a heart made of sand, devoured slowly by the hourglass of time.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 10 |
 | Written on 18.12.2011 by "It is myself I have never met, whose face is pasted on the underside of my mind." |
Comments
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Comments: 31
Visited by: 446 users
| Darkside Momo Retired elite Posts: 9087  |
Great review, Rozz. Once again, spot on 
---- My Author's Blog (in French)  "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you" "I've lost too many years now I'm stealing back my soul I am awake"
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| Edmund Fogg Posts: 1752  |
Poetic,informative and to the point. Yeppe Your review is great. Puts the listener in the right mood for the album.
---- You cannot sedate all the things you hate - MM The Observer is the source of reality - Bloom God damn it!! What did Diddy didn't do? - Satan
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274  |
Quote: ... That was beautiful, man.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847  |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 18.12.2011 at 15:59 
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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| KwonVerge Odysseus elite Posts: 5068  |
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| InnerSelf proofread free Posts: 2641  |
Brilliant review as always  the song that surprised me was Loss of Will which is the least bizarre song Esoteric ever wrote, it showcased their ability to write a "simple" Funeral Doom song
---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself.
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| Chobo_jokeR Posts: 427  |
Awesome review. Perfectly describes the music. I've listened through this many times, it was my initial encounter with Esoteric. I'm glad I gave this album a listen, it's introduced me to so much more. As I'm writing this I'm just concluding my first listen of The Pernicious Enigma. I can't wait for the break after exams so I can digest the rest of their discography.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist staff Posts: 21306  |
I came here to say how much I liked the album but instead I'm just going to say this review is fucking beautiful.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Glabrezu Posts: 107  |
I liked "The maniacal vale" and I'll sure appreciate this new work. Fantastic review, thank you. 
---- Exploring life Without fear without feeling I am one with my torment And forever blind
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| Opethian Posts: 1729  |
Killer review. so killer that i just ordered it off Amazon! Thanks man 
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| Milena gloom cookie staff Posts: 4603  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 18.12.2011 at 19:11 Same here, since I haven't heard the album. Der, I'm your avid fangirl and I have read at least a hundred of those reviews of yours. And of course I'm gonna read the rest too.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
The last 2-3 minutes of "Non Being" define what extreme doom should sound like, and the review defines what an awesome review should look like.
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| Ag Fox Angel No More elite Posts: 4774  |
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702  |
Good review... I find this somewhat mellower version of Esoteric far more pleasing and the atmospheres are beautiful. Not much funeral stuff in it, but I never considered Esoteric to be a funeral doom band, like you often see mentioned on the net.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 19.12.2011 at 12:42 Really interested to know what's not funeral about albums like Epistemological Despondency or Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum... Or pretty much their entire discography.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 19.12.2011 at 23:25 While I don't fully agree with him, I can definitely see where his coming from. I don't know, Esoteric's stuff seems a bit too pshychodelic and death/doom infused to be considered pure funeral doom.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Slayer666 on 20.12.2011 at 02:10 Guess what: Funeral doom IS slowed down death/doom after all... It has always been a part of the sound. Also the psychodelic aspects doesn't stop their music from being funeral doom metal unless we have to make again the concept of funeral doom metal and say that every band has to sound the same.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 20.12.2011 at 02:41 this is where we differ... I don't consider funeral doom as slowed down death/doom... slowed down death/doom is slowed down death/doom... funeral doom has many other characteristics and many bands use a different style... but to me, funeral doom is more "orchestral", with heavy use of keyboards, deep growls and generally a suffocating, repetitive atmosphere, throughout, with no accelerations. I don't see that in Esoteric. They had some elements at the beginning of their career, but most of their tracks eventually speed up and turn into death/doom. They are a hybrid, not a funeral band.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 20.12.2011 at 11:26 Funeral doom doesn't need keyboards to stay on the genre. Funeral Doom started basically as an expantion of death/doom, it did not came out on it's own out of nowhere. Esoteric has always used Growls as well, if you talk about more high pitched screams then that doesn't matter either considering how bands like Worship had those vocals as well.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 20.12.2011 at 12:44 no, it doesn't need keyboards at all, but I find that bands that mainly use guitars tend to verge on the death/doom side of it... Who thinks that Ahab are funeral doom, here?
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 20.12.2011 at 13:07 I'm not going to mix things too much but yeah, Ahab has left the funeral doom path with their second album (their first album is still FDM to me). Esoteric uses keyboards a lot too.. even with your logic they do count as FDM considering their heavy use of Keyboards. I really fail to see how more guitars = more death/doom. It almost feels like you want the FDM bands to just make some slow, hard to notice and completely repetitive riffs buried in keyboards all over again without evolving on the guitar part. It doesn't work that way.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck elite Posts: 40071  |
Skepticism and Profetus don't use a bass, but have a lot of guitar, yet are funeral doom
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 20.12.2011 at 13:14 I think after the statement above, there is little point in discussing this anymore. We obviously have a completely different opinion on what funeral doom is or isn't... @Marcel I didn't mean that funeral doom bands with guitars are less funeral, but just that guitars tend to be used in a certain way in doom and therefore these bands, to me, are - or give the impression of being - more connected to other subgenres.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 20.12.2011 at 13:30 Woah, stoping the discussion of a genre for the opinion of one album that YOU put on the discussion to begin with? Truly mature.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 20.12.2011 at 13:35 Is it mature calling another person immature? It's mature to recognize the diversity of opinions and avoid debating a subject ad infinitum when it's clear that the opinions are irreconcilable. I'm not into squabbling or having to have the last word. I leave that to other people. Like you.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 20.12.2011 at 13:40 I overreacted (and felt too lazy to edit since I figured it was too late). I'll give you that. To me it felt that you found the discussion useless and absurd just because of one album (maybe that wasn' your intention). If I were to do so with most people I wouldn't discuss at all. That's the point of discussion, people disgaree and comment on why. On the mature part, I'm sorry. Was out of line there. The main part of the discussion wasn't about any bands anymore, but the genre in which explanations you put "to me/for me" a few times instead of that genre is in general. But yeah, let's put this at rest.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 20.12.2011 at 13:44 That's ok, Doctor... 
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| NocturnalStalker Metal Addict Posts: 889  |
Brilliant review. As brilliant as the album itself. 
---- "And we are not who we think we are We are who we're afraid to be" - Lux Occulta "The Opening of Eleventh Sephirah"
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| Slinky666 Account deleted |
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| Candlemass Defaeco Posts: 828  |
Brilliant release. One of my top albums for 2011, maybe Funeral Doom metal ever.
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