ALBUM REVIEW: Anthronomicon & Helionomicon – Ulthar
For the best part of a decade, Oakland’s blackened death trio ULTHAR have been plying us with sickeningly solid stabs of cosmic horror. Having taken their name from a village in the works of H.P. Lovecraft, their brand of ferocious and fervent metal has always been steeped in abject terror, and so it is with their latest offering. Two separate albums released simultaneously, it’s important to note that this isn’t the tried and tested double album format we’ve grown accustomed to from ambitious bands who don’t know when enough is enough. Rather these are two distinct bodies of work that carry all of the hallmarks of ULTHAR. Adorned by a single piece of work split across each album, Anthronomicon and Heliconomicon are 2023’s metal equivalent of those twins from The Shining.
It probably makes most sense to start with Anthronomicon, which comprises eight gnarled chunks of ULTHAR’s unique brand of twitching, convulsing death metal played with a black metal cold shoulder. Cephalophore cavorts wildly from the off and pinballs around from blast beats and growls to tech death and ambience. But the overarching sense here is one of danger. Danger to your life from this crazed lunatic of a track, and danger of the wheels falling off at any given moment. As Justin Ennis‘ cymbals rain down hither and thither, and Shelby Lermo‘s guitar lines sweep and swoop seemingly without aim at times under Steve Peacock’s punishing vocals, it feels as if the trio are battling against each other to see who can give the track its most disgusting component.
Yet, that’s what makes Anthronomicon – and indeed, ULTHAR – such a tantalising proposition. This isn’t neutered, over-produced shlock. This is as violent and virulent as anything to have come out of the extreme metal underground; an unadulterated thrill ride of angular riffs and jagged breakdowns that oxymoronically crash about like a choreographed gang of enraged buffalo. But for all its haphazardness, it remains cohesive, cogent and completely unhinged.
Saccades is a wall of malice that doesn’t so much as slowly close in but instead rushes mercilessly to smash you into oblivion, while Astranumeral Octave Chants injects brief moments of relative calm to punctuate the ferocity in breathtaking fashion. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and ULTHAR embody that spirit here as they chop and change their methods to continue their brutal assault on your senses.
But as good as Anthronomicon is, it’s the sister album Helionomicon that stands out in this package. It also clocks in at 40 minutes (those ULTHAR boys have been real busy) but is made up of just two mammoth slabs of atmospheric and undulating aural terror. That’s not to say that this goes any easier than the songs on its counterpart. Both tracks – confusingly named Helionomicon and Anthronomicon – explode out of the starting block and continue at full pelt for the majority of their 20-minute runtimes, like two reanimated greyhounds relentlessly racing around a dilapidated stadium that’s been reclaimed by nature and crumbling to its foundations.
It feels though that the true purpose of Helionomicon (the album) is for ULTHAR to show just how many feathers adorn their collective caps. Across their first two albums – Cosmovore and Providence – the trio established themselves as one of death metal’s most learned, experienced and exciting proponents. Now that they’ve firmly planted their flag in the ground, they have their sights set on new territories and new sectors. But they don’t need to build up to it. It’s already in their wheelhouse.
Take Helionomicon (the song) for example. A tumultuous, tempestuous journey that sets the atmosphere immediately, before swan diving into breakneck riffs and growls that sound like they’ve come from the deepest, dankest hole in the woods. Within just a minute and a half, the riff and tempo has switched no less than four times, but amidst the chaos, they sound far tighter and more together than on Anthronomicon (the album). They still sound dangerous, but this is more of an immediate, physical danger, rather than an abstract, musical one. And the reason that it is so effective is because they’ve already flexed their cross-genre greatness before. They’ve shown flashes of their black metal chops, and imbued their work with a creeping ambience that gets under your skin and worms its way into your soul.
And while both of these tracks are full of more twists and turns than an M. Night Shyamalan movie, you go with it every step of the way, captivating as it is from the first second to the last. Even the four minutes of ambient noise and sci-fi soundscape that caps each track is more gripping than it has any right to be.
Anthronomicon and Helionomicon are each towering accomplishments from a band that continues to go from strength to strength. Individually displaying the talent and prowess of ULTHAR, and as a double header showing that the Californians aren’t afraid to think outside the box, this dual release stands out as one of the most impressive shows of force in recent times.
Rating: 9/10
Anthronomicon & Helionomicon are out now via 20 Buck Spin.
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