Tuesday 3 January 2012

Plutonium - Devilmentertainment Non-Stop


PLUTONIUM - Devilmentertainment Non-Stop (Self financed CD 2011)
I’ve always been a fan of experimental / industrialised side of black metal and considered bands like Mysticum, Thorns, Aborym and DHG as some of my favourites. There was simply something unique in their sound, something equally disturbing and possessing, not to mention the fact that sometimes I was getting tired with the traditional, primitive black metal and then opted for something more original and lethal. To this day I think that “Thorns” and “In the Stream of Inferno” are some of the best metal albums I’ve ever had a chance to listen to. So, also nowadays such playing is my weakness… Abigor’s “Fractal Possession”, Aborym’s “With No Human Intervention” or Thee Maldoror Kollective’s “New Era Viral Order (Dogma Slaughterhouse and the Children of Anaemia)” are just few examples for stunning albums that are a must for those, who would like to listen to something more unusual, extreme but dark as the darkest pits of hell. Recently I had a chance to listen to the new album from Polish Iperyt, which was also pretty cool and now here’s another album from the experimental black metal genre. Plutonium is Swedish and „Devilmentertainment Non-Stop” is a second album of that project (which I think is just an one-man band at the moment?). I have no idea though whether the debut was anything good or not, but „Devilmentertainment Non-Stop” (what a tongue twister here!) is more than interesting.
Basing my opinion on the first seconds of the opening song, „A Tribute to the Tools of the Cosmic Abortionist”, I didn’t expect anything particularly intriguing. It may be due to not the best guitar sound and drum machine, as well as rather uninspiring black metal riffing in the beginning… Whatever. The fact is that the first song is nothing beyond the mediocre, pretty standard black metal. There may be quite cool part in it, when Plutonium used some electronic sounds, but that basically is all about it. Then it smoothly goes to the title song, which again begins with the fast black metal riffing, but later introduces more experimental parts, again with the electronics and more unconventional riffing. And that’s cool, it’s definitely more interesting than if the band was going through the whole track with the same kind of standard black metal playing. Anyway at that point my interest in „Devilmentertainment Non-Stop” started to grow, as I’ve noticed that Plutonium has a lot of similarities to bands like Blacklodge, whose “Login: Satan” album brings similar balance between raw and furious black metal and mechanical, inhuman industrial sounds.
But my favourite part is of the album is yet to come. The best things on „Devilmentertainment Non-Stop” Plutonium left for the second part of the CD. There are such excellent tracks as “Peace Keeper” (which is almost ambient / industrial song, in the vein of Puissance, which sounds absolutely killer in my opinion) and „Det Doda Exemplets Makt (Two Minute Hate Part II)”. Such tracks diversify the album, creating cold and almost sick atmosphere in it, way better than the mediocre and typical riffing from the beginning of the album. Finally there are my favourite tracks: „Unintelligent Design” and „Nuclear War Incense”, which remind the one and only Thorns. Yeah, the opening riff from „Unintelligent Design” is played and arranged like all of Snorre’s songs, with that characteristic way of slow, almost crawling, but mechanical riffing… Brilliant. Even the vocals have been sang in similar way, but I guess it was just natural that one thing forces the other to pop in, as they match together perfectly. Well, some may accuse Plutonium for nothing more, but ripping off the style of Thorns, but if Satyricon got away with that on “Rebel Exravaganza”, then why not? Besides, I can only admire the guy behind Plutonium (J. Carlsson) for composing such cool eight minutes long songs, which would capture my attention completely, from the start to the end. And „Nuclear War Incense” is very similar and again powerful and killer song.
 “Zero Swarm” is also a great track, with almost symphonic and more melodic parts, what again brings more diversity to already well varied music. Finally, the whole album is finished with “Hell Is All Around”, which again starts with that marching rhythms, known from the Norwegian cults, but later it speeds up a bit, bringing more connections to Mysticum maybe, but the atmosphere in it is again dark, grim and cold and makes great impression on me, definitely. And so I can truly say that „Devilmentertainment Non-Stop” was a big surprise to me. I haven’t really expected anything from it, but that’s maybe even better when all of a sudden you get hit by such cool album. I must recommend it to all of those, who like the bands I’ve mentioned in this review, but also to those, who simply like good and solid black metal. Don’t be afraid of Plutonium, it isn’t a techno or whatever crap, only because they’ve used some electronics.
Standout tracks: „Unintelligent Design”, „Nuclear War Incense”, “Hell Is All Around”, “Peace Keeper”
Final rate: 80 / 100

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