Noneuclid – Metatheosis (Blood Music)
Tuesday, 8th April 2014
Throwing four experienced, well-respected underground musicians into a musical cauldron is one of the ultimate risks. It’s why supergroups draw so much attention; it’s the “what-if” factor that accompanies a body of work that will either sink or swim. But flipping switch, what comes of a group formed before its constituents staked their claim in their primary bands? The answer would be Germany’s Noneuclid, who feature in its ranks, members of Dark Fortress, Triptykon, Revamp, and Obscura.
The band’s sophomore outing is Matatheosis, the follow-up to 2008’s The Crawling Chaos. The length in between studio albums certainly ties into the notion the parties involved have been busy, but, a throwaway pile for ideas Noneuclid is not. This is experimental, challenging thrash metal that is equally out-of-the-box as it is cerebral and occasionally throwback, suggesting there’s ample amounts of looking forward, while looking back. Of instant note are the vocals of Morean (Dark Fortress), who cajoles a European Hetfield bark during the more upward and technical numbers (“Cult of One,” “Buried Forever”), yet also has the fluctuation in his patterns to fit the avant-garde compass found on the three-part “Into the Light.”
Being that a common thread is not predominant, a song like the very Celtic Frost-esque “The Black Plague of the Soul” ends up sticking the landing, becoming the album’s high point of heaviness and dynamism. Makes perfect sense, as Tom G. Warrior’s current #2, V. Santura handles one of the guitar spots in Noneuclid. But to the point, Metatheosis’ range and regular avoidance of thrash norms gives it its own front, thus emerging as a real thinking-man’s thrash album without going over everyone’s head.
