Fissure Of Riddles – Nemea (2018) - "Progressive sludge" does not explain the whole picture

After hearing the astonishing "Nemea" from Fissure of Riddles we can declare that 2018 has finally started.  The musical standards of this year began very high; shame on Fissure Of Riddles for frustrating so many mediocre bands that thought that in 2018 they would have a shot. Good luck in trying to sound remotely as good as "Nemea".

Classifying the band as progressive sludge sounds unfair and underestimates the creative dynamic that permeates the whole album. Letsagree that the dirty sludge's punch, gives the noisy foundation to the work, but beyond the buzzing sound one hears a post-metal placidity wrapped in wavering vocals, sometimes sounding like a low growl ritualistic regret, sometimes like a unbridled anguish scream. Glacial Retention that opens the album lavishes on an unstable cadence with a peculiar atmosphere. Ignorance Is Blessed with his short psychedelic opening bursts into heaviness and speed, the drums follows a choleric rhythm accompanied by a relentless guitar, the sound has a convulsed emergency appeal. Listening to Paleozoic is to feel the bass strings vibrate in the core of your guts. It's these four strings that support the massive weight that the Fissure Of Riddles imposes with its distorted guitars. The musical pattern holds till the very last "Nemea" note. Edos have sections of meticulous melody that are small islands of security interspersed by tempestuous oceans of riffs and Hauling is based on a hypnotizing sound to close the work.

Shattered after the first audition, our masochistic brain craves for a second ride, it urges more of that unsettled metal groove. As heavy music begins to portend signs of stagnation, Fissure Of Riddles comes pouring out a megaton of musical aggression plaguing every unfounded belief that metal suffers from creative doldrums.

Tracklist
1.Glacial Retention 05:16
2.Ignorance Is Blessed 05:08
3.Flensing The Dragon 12:21
4.Scrumps 05:27
5.Paleozoic 08:44
6.Drown Our Bilge 06:59
7.Grid Your Lions 02:55
8.E.D.O.S. 06:11
9.Hauling 06:08

Final conclusion:

Marcelo Hissa