Misanthrope - Ænigma Mystica
Misanthrope has been around for ages (since 1988) but they’re one of the Holy Records bands that I never seemed to be able to keep up with. Other groups on that label, such as Nightfall, Orphaned Land, Septic Flesh and many more were on heavy rotation on my stereo, but Misanthrope stayed firmly underneath my radar. They released tons of material that I only found out about long after most of it had gone out of print. That being said, I don’t have a clear recollection of what they sounded like back in their early days. Ænigma Mystica, though, is pretty clearly Progressive Death Metal. Most people know that I generally despise anything with the word “Progressive” in it. Progressive Metal tends to be overly complicated and needlessly meandering. The whole genre thrives on odd song structures and experimentation for the sake of experimentation. This is on full display here. Ænigma Mystica has a lot of weird shit on it. There’s some funky slap bass on “L’arboresence du Lys,” for example. Now, I like the fact that they made the bass audible. I just wish it wasn’t this funky shit that would have only made sense on a Primus record. The main thing that I hate about this album is that there isn’t any consistency. There are solid, atmospheric songs like “Desponsation” mixed in with tracks that are just crap. If the whole album had been like “Desponsation” (or something reasonably close), I would have fucking loved this LP. It isn’t, though. You never know what you’re getting from one track to the next. This whole album sounds like a compilation of random songs that were hastily chosen. Maybe I’m just not “artsy” enough to understand what they’re doing. I’m a Metalhead who wants music that kicks my ass. Some of the tracks do just that. Unfortunately, most of them don’t. If you get the deluxe edition version of this album, there’s a second CD with the same tracks but with English lyrics and a different track order (no explanation for why the songs are in a different order is given). Also included in the deluxe edition is a DVD with a video for “Lycaon,” documentary footage of the band making Ænigma Mystica and some live material. If you’re a fan of Misanthrope and you can’t get enough of their stuff, I guess this is giving the fans what they want. It just doesn’t appeal to me in the least.
(1) Comment(s)
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OnlyInDeath said:
I think everyone should stop saying “progressive” 99% of the time and start just saying “masturbatory”. As in, “Satan’s Smegma is a Masturbatory Death Metal Band” or “this album would have been good, but they brought in some unnecessary Masturbatory elements”.
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