diSEMBOWELMENT

diSEMBOWELMENT

BY Chris AyersPublished Nov 1, 2005

Truth be told, many doom fans have never heard Australia’s short-lived primeval doom-mongers diSEMBOWELMENT, let alone own either of their two Relapse releases. Though 1992’s Dusk EP and 1993’s Transcendence Into The Peripheral full-length have long gone out-of-print, the label has re-issued both of them with bonus tracks in a snazzy digipak (and a third disc of rarities and demo tracks packed in a limited-edition box). Beginning as the grindcore outfit Bacteria, the band soon developed their sound into molasses-slow death/doom, like Cathedral’s Forest of Equilibrium at 33 rpm with Mortician’s Will Rahmer on vocals. The three-song Dusk EP — wonderfully under-produced with that grainy Napalm Death/Dismember guitar tone — only hints at their potential. This lethal trio of tunes is updated and streamlined on Transcendence, with "The Tree Of Life and Death” and "A Burial at Ornans” brandishing equal amounts of creeping doom and death-grind. Vocalist Renato Gallina keeps his growls low and unintelligible on "Excoriate” and offers a reverberating monkish chant on the ultra-atmospheric "Your Prophetic Throne of Ivory” (also a standout track on Relapse’s groundbreaking 1993 label overview, Corporate Death). "Nightside of Eden” is pure Projekt-esque darkwave with acoustic guitars and female spoken-word utterances. Even the rough cuts from their Mourning September demo presage the planet-aligning soundscapes of Gallina and bassist Matthew Skarajew’s future alliance as ethno-ambient architects Trail of the Bow. Lucky fans who nab the rare box set will find rehearsal versions of said tracks plus a vicious cover of Necrovore’s "Slaughtered Remains.” Encapsulating every note the band recorded, the vault-cleaning diSEMBOWELMENT is an essential purchase for both curiosity-seekers and completists.
(Relapse)

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