Sometimes our love for quasi-musical extremes has a flattening effect on the diversity of material we hear. Dynamics traverse the vast range from loudest to loudest-er, wanton mayhem and terror begin to appear tame enough for family breakfast conversation. It can be refreshing to hear an album like Slidhr’s Deluge try to save black metal from itself. I don’t mean some kind of Altar of Plagues mind-warp, which barely sips from the black metal well anyway. I’m talking about an album full of discernable songs and thoughtful performance choices that still wears the stern monochrome cowl of all the genre master statements. By pillaging Brown Jenkins hopeless chord degradations and filling the remains with sawed-off vokills and crisp percussion, Slidhr delivers this enjoyable debut full-length eight years after the project started kicking around.
Decibel is happy to present a stream of the entire album for your consideration, along with mainman Joseph Deegan’s track-by-track breakdown of his intent and influences. Cringe before Nature’s gaping maw!
Wielding Daggers
I was undecided as to whether the album should have some kind of intro to build up to the first track. Initially this song started abruptly and kicked right in but afterwards I was working on some synth stuff at home and came up with this. Slidhr hadn’t been very active publicly for quite a while so I wanted something special to kickstart the album, both musically and lyrically.
Hex
This song personifies nature as an outcast. One who can only be ignored for so long before we cross a line. Musically it is one of the catchier tracks on the album. As it was the first track that was made available to the public after a 5 year hiatus, it seems to have surprised quite a few people. No bad thing.
Earth’s Mouth Opens
When Earth awakens from its slumber there will be a time of great realization for mankind. This won’t just be a terrestrial event but also celestial and therefore a spiritual one. Through this great suffering our spirits will learn a great lesson. While it has some very fast moments, it is overall more of a mid-paced affair. A lot of aggression blended with atmosphere in the guitar parts.
Symbols Obscuring
There has been a wall of confusion built around us in everyday life. Symbols by nature are used to represent things we may not fully understand, however, when certain powers have control of these symbols they can distort their meanings and use them to confuse us and take their true power for themselves.
Rejoin the Dirt
This is one of the faster songs on “Deluge”. I wanted this one to feel claustrophobic and chaotic and with the drum talents of B. Einarsson, we pretty much achieved that. For me it conjures up the image of Death’s horse approaching. Rendering all life in it’s path powerless and trampling it into the ground.
Their Blood
One word that sums this one up best would be “liberty”. The misguided elites that enslave us will themselves see a day when their tyranny is rewarded with ruin. Lyrically this is one of the most important songs on the album for me. The music is suitably fast and aggressive to compliment the lyrics.
Death of the Second Sun
Events throughout history have always been hidden from us by those who control what is published. Celestial turmoil that once drastically changed Earth is largely unknown. It’s all part of a cycle of deceit. Some of the reviews I’ve seen so far seem surprised by the use of clean vocals here. There really isn’t a lot of it though so it was kind of weird to see that.
Unseen
The slowest song on the album and therefore noticeably different to the rest of the material. It’s pretty different to anything Slidhr has ever done actually, both musically and lyrically. It’s a song for all the poison we are fed in life.
As the Dead
Death is a natural cycle that we will all experience but even in life we can communicate and learn from the dead. This one deals with experiments in astral travel and meditation. Something that is far more widespread than most people may think. It’s a fairly varied track with fast parts as well as some catchier slow stuff.
Rays like Blades
This one is heavily influenced by stuff like Bathory, Celtic Frost and Carnivore. It’s thrashier and more straight forward than the rest of the album without completely rejecting that sound. I always had this one in mind as the closing track for “Deluge”.
