ALBUM REVIEW: Golden Dirges, Molten Larynges – Lung Knots
LUNG KNOTS is a solo project dreamed up and spawned by Finnish musician Eeli Helin of FAWN LIMB and FARGUE. Self-described as a vessel of auditory violence and used to channel the hatred and disgust that Eeli focuses onto mankind and its progeny. The project has released their debut album, Golden Dirges, Molten Larynges and given they attach to it such a strong mission statement to their work, can the bite live up to the bark?
Opening with Void Hymnal, we get off to a claustrophobic start. Tight, oppressive atmosphere builds before giving way to a screeching, scorched hellscape of miserable electronic noise overlaid with distant, tortured screams. There is a layer of tension added with Devour Their Bodies Saturated In Brine, which opens with dramatic beats of synthetic drums. What follows is seriously and devastatingly abrasive and tinged with electronic decay, but is still relatively easy to follow without descending into a senseless pit of pure harsh noise.
Betraying a whiff of black metal influence, here we find some deep, ritualistic and almost melodic vocal lines (akin to those used so effectively by THE RUINS OF BEVERAST) which rise above the caustic mire like the branches of dead trees above some festering, acrid swamp and adding a tint of emotion to an otherwise bleak and vitriol-bleached landscape.
Cessation, the album’s third track, is more restrained than its predecessor, providing a general hum of malice hanging underneath a grotesque, twisted semblance of human vocals. The only real melody comes from a destroyed fragment of a synth line which the track slowly rots away around until it is all that is left, finally crumbling and popping out existence.
Its follower, Our Torches Soaked In Oil is tense and distressing with deeper, more apparent vocals that sit almost in the death metal growl camp. For the most part it is melodically barren and stylistically harsh, but also has moments of extreme dichotomy, such as in its closing moments where a clean and calm piano break is overlaid with borderline inhuman shrieks, allowing a little emotion other than complete misanthropy to be glimpsed in the far distance, before being smothered by Rattling Matter’s unassailable wall of abrasive noise.
Moving towards the album’s close, we find the overtly ominous and deeply threatening death rattle of Harrow Prayer, from which grows a dank and unpleasant atmosphere that bleeds excellently into A Thicket Of Abrasions And Open Wounds. Possibly the best track on the album, this is a five-minute overture to the absolute best science fiction/horror film never made. Through clever utilisation of dramatic drum patterns, bone chilling samples and a rank, suffocating fog of bass, The track provides a terrifying and disorientating journey through the most negative emotions deep in the heart of LUNG KNOTS. The album is then rounded soundly out by Throat Flutters, which dials back the intensity slightly in favour of absolute creeping dread and raw throated howls. It should be advised to take a breath and a quiet moment once it finally fades, as what has just passed through your headphones will likely soundtrack your next fevered nightmare.
Overall, Golden Dirges, Molten Larynges provides almost exactly what it says on the tin. These are in fact decomposed, noxious dirges, flecked with gold in the form of an underlying musicality that sporadically blinks into existence and hints at an emotional maturity that is usually not expected from this type of repulsive electronic hatred. Turning to the Larynges, If Helin’s are not molten by the conclusion of this work, they are almost certainly irretrievably scorched and destroyed. Despite this, what we have here is a fantastic and alarmingly accessible but by no means less extreme form of harsh, noisy art. It may not be traditionally metal, but it could certainly give some of the heaviest bands about a real run for their money in terms of out-and-out ferocity.
Rating: 8/10
Golden Dirges, Molten Larynges is out now via Tartarus Records.
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