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Pyrrhon - The Mother Of Virtues review




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Reviewer:
8.0

19 users:
7.42
Band: Pyrrhon
Album: The Mother Of Virtues
Release date: April 2014


01. The Oracle Of Nassau
02. White Flag
03. Sleeper Agent
04. Balkanized
05. Eternity In A Breath
06. Implant Fever
07. Invisible Injury
08. The Parasite In Winter
09. The Mother Of Virtues

The Mother Of Virtues opens with instantaneous chaos. Dissonant Gorguts-like riffing cuts into your flesh and the vocals salt your wounds. The weight of the shadow cast by the colossal music bears down upon you with malicious intent, enshrouding you in a schizophrenic-feeling storm.

Completely devoid of the pleasant nature in traditional harmonies and melodies, the guitars tend towards layers of conflicting chords that either ring out or berate your soon-to-be-broken ear drums with rapid staccato notation. The riffs can best be described as grating, and at times seem to wander aimlessly through bleak fields of destruction. Pyrrhon's music sometimes comes to an intersection between experimentation and jamming, where each little phrase is evocative of a different influence (ranging from Oranssi Pazuzu to Khanate).

The immensely bass-heavy production manages to add a very thunderous weight to the already wall-of-noise approach in the music. Like a stampede rolling over a hill and pummeling you to death, The Mother Of Virtues is merciless and apathetic towards your suffering.

The structures of the songs themselves seems to be an area of intrigue on The Mother Of Virtues. None of the songs follow even remotely conventional formats, and Pyrrhon clearly prefer a more natural evolution of each song, as the music swells in wave-like motions to climaxes and troughs. Drawn out instrumentation connects random vocal-parts that cannot be easily classified as verses, choruses, or anything of the sort. Rather the band chooses to enhance their already bewildering atmosphere with abstract structures which force the listener's' full attention.

Near the end of the album the very molecules of each note seem to drift apart from each other, as vast expanses of frequencies ring out in a frenzied rampage. The chords flail around you until the album's last dying breath has reached your inner skull and finally stripped you of innocence, of sanity, and of hope.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 8
Production: 8

Written by Alex F | 28.01.2015




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 7   Visited by: 38 users
30.01.2015 - 06:29
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Yeah I haven't heard this one yet, but it got some pretty good word last year from what I've seen. Your review's definitely intrigued me, especially those "grating riffs with a wall of noise approach." Will be getting on this soon.
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I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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31.01.2015 - 02:56
Rating: 9
mz

I though I'm the only one enjoying this.
It ended up being one of my most played albums in the December. It is basically gorguts' avantgarde death metal pushed one step further by all the improvised musicianship. Definitely not an easy listen, but there is something that draws me in each time.
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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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03.05.2015 - 01:03
Rating: 8
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Holy shit this is nasty. Loving how depraved this sounds and I can definitely understand your comment about Khanate. Definitely gonna give it more listens soon... And great review dude!
Only shame is that it didn't get enough attention when it got released.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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03.05.2015 - 01:04
Rating: 8
Alex F
Slick Dick Rick
Written by X-Ray Rod on 03.05.2015 at 01:03

Holy shit this is nasty. Loving how depraved this sounds and I can definitely understand your comment about Khanate. Definitely gonna give it more listens soon... And great review dude!
Only shame is that it didn't get enough attention when it got released.

It seemed to get a decent amount of attention on a few different sites, but it seems that Metal-Storm users completely ignored it. Glad you like it! And thanks for (seemingly) going through my reviews today haha
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03.05.2015 - 01:14
Rating: 8
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Written by Alex F on 03.05.2015 at 01:04
It seemed to get a decent amount of attention on a few different sites, but it seems that Metal-Storm users completely ignored it. Glad you like it! And thanks for (seemingly) going through my reviews today haha

I display my love by stalking and then leave a trace of my loving, usually behind some bushes.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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03.05.2015 - 07:00
Rating: 9
Diverge

Thanks for the friendly reminder of an album I didn't listen to in 2014. This is exceptional.
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03.05.2015 - 23:01
Rating: 9
mz

Written by X-Ray Rod on 03.05.2015 at 01:03

Holy shit this is nasty. Loving how depraved this sounds and I can definitely understand your comment about Khanate. Definitely gonna give it more listens soon... And great review dude!
Only shame is that it didn't get enough attention when it got released.


Written by Diverge on 03.05.2015 at 07:00

Thanks for the friendly reminder of an album I didn't listen to in 2014. This is exceptional.


You two be sure to check the Imperial Triumphant - Abyssal Gods, released just this year. It features also 2 members of Pyrrhon and follows similar musical ideas, but it's mostly rooted in black metal.

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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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