Customer Reviews

Death - Pierce Me

5 star:		(4)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Silencer are spoken of with hushed reverence, and for good reason. Death - Pierce Me is dark and damaged, grim and suicidal miserablist doom-drenched black metal of the highest order. Talk to any of the current crop of the black metal elite, Wrest from Leviathan, Malefic from Xasthur, and they will fawn unabashedly over Silencer.

Thankfully, Autopsy Kitchen have stepped up and rescued this all time black classic from oblivion. And now you can finally experience one of the original black cults who expressed their blackened misery through impossibly anguished vocals. Hysterical shrieks, frenzied and overwrought howls of absolute terror. Never has a band captured grief and misery and loneliness so perfectly and in such an utterly frightening way.

But it's not just the vocals, the music is completely intense and seething as well, with an unrestrained turbulence, dense and buzzing and so emotional and personal and overwhelming. Heart rending minor key melodies emeshed in black swirls of buzz, the riffing so intense and totally manic, exposing a tortured inner world wrought with drama and tension, a dark soul exposed, a damaged personal hell expressed through shriek and buzz. The anguished blasts of blackness are separated by dark doomy ambient passages, from simple mournful acoustic guitar to droney piano fugues to simple melodic doom metal minimalism, but when the riffs and the vocals kick in, a huge brutal blackness dropping on you from above, it's the sort of musical moment that gives you chills, makes your hair stand up on end, and in the right frame of mind makes you want to just break down.

Which is precisely why Silencer and Death - Pierce Me are so revered, this record set the template for ALL depressive suicidal black metal to follow, and while some have come close, Xasthur and Nortt certainly, there is just something so special, and so utterly frightening about this record that keeps anyone from ever capturing the same black musical world of abject fear and unmitigated misery.

If you are interested in this album, you already know Shining(and NOT the hippy band, who are amusingly from Black MeTal Fatherland Norway!), so you'll catch the witty in-joke in this review's title. If you DON'T know Shining(from Sweden), you are strongly urged to avoid Silencer, as Silencer is a much more twisted Shining! Musically, the 2 bands are quite similar: long, drawn-out riffs that achieve a blanketing of despair effect, then to be dashed by an abrupt tempo shift and some very chunky riffs that would almost be considered "groove-y" IF this music were performed by OR for humans! Which it is most definitely not. There are moments of true beauty on "Death---Pierce Me", which only adds to the nausea-inducing power of the album. It is like finding a live baby in a pile of dead lepers. Sounds like an extreme example? Hmmm, then listen to "Death---Pierce Me" and see if I'm entirely off base! The production and musicianship on this album are excellent, in case you are wondering about that...also almost a mirror of Shining's most recent material. And just WHAT makes this so much darker than Shining? As any other review will tell you, it is the vocals (which surpass the infamous tortured vocals on earlier Bethlehem albums). When they first shrieked forth from the music, I was actually STARTLED; I jumped a little bit, and then the hairs on the back of my neck actually tingled. Throughout the album, my original shock was replaced by palpable unease. This IS the sound of an insane person(and when you see the utterly incomparable inside photo of him, you will be even more unsettled!), and you are inside his world. What would happen if you couldn't find your way out? I will try my hand at describing the indescribable: "piercing", indeed, shrieks and howls, that descend to gutteral, menacing growls, peppered with eerie crying and sobbing; keening moans and choking gurglings of utter madness...and really, what is wrong with US who find this entertaining? Perhaps this kind've music acts as a catharsis for our own "crazy" thoughts. Let's hope so!
Indispensible for all those who fancy themselves fans of "extreme" music. I shudder (gleefully) to think what may come NEXT in the realm of extremity...

If youre reading this Im sure you know some stuff about Silencer. About the infamous Nattramn and the hideous rumors surrounding him. Otherwise, you probably wouldnt be reading this. Though I advise some research, most the rumors are false/told incorrectly...
On to the actual album though; its truly excellent! Musically and lyrically! Theres very few tracks but each track is nearly 10 minutes each (save the last track, its more of an outro) covering wide ranges of musical styles. From eerie acoustic solos to creepy pianos, to straight up black metal! Some ambient sounds appear throughout to create a darker more depressing atmosphere. Its truly amazing what this band can do with one song.
Lyrically this is NOT for the sensitive type. Take the "darkest" lyrics youve ever heard (be they brutal or depressing or evil or what have you) and throw them out the window. This album WILL top them all. Even I didnt believe what I was hearing the first few times. From wails of pain begging to be put out of their misery to frightened screams ringing in horror as they describe atrocities from human existance to even the holocaust.
Now the vocals are certainly not for everyone, I was turned off by them the first few listens but they grow on you. Give them a few tries.
One last thing, get off amazon. The prices here SUCK. I dont know if these names will be censored by try ebay, grooves-inc, discogs and some underground metal sites. Garuntee if you find it you can get it for under $20. I paid $15 for mine on ebay. I highly reccomend you get this if youre even just a little interested. This is 100% art made for expression, not commercial poseurs trying to get famous like so many others. This is far better than these other inferior "DSBM" bands out nowadays. 6/5 stars.

If you ever feel like ending it all you should have this record playing in the background. This record is so grim and depressing that even the most optimistic of individuals will feel like useless pieces of trash after listening to it. And yeah, one could say that this music wallows in self-pity, but it seems like the anger and the sadness of the vocalist is aimed more towards humanity itself. Not to mention that this music deals with the complete destruction of the individual. Of course, this CD is plagued with feelings of self-loathing, but unlike so many so-called suicidal bands and bands that sing about suicide, the feelings here seem to be LEGITIMATE. Silencer is truly a miserable experience, indeed! For the most part, this music can be compared to the likes of Shining and Nocturnal Depression, but everything seems to be ten shades darker and more depressing. The one thing that is worth noting about this release is how unique the vocals are... For some people, they WILL be an automatic turn off. The vocals are "high pitched" blood curdling screams. At times, it sounds like the main vocalist (Nattramn) is having a mental breakdown. Indeed, it was even rumored that he was "institutionalized" after the release of this CD.

Silencer will take you into a world where there is no hope.

This is one for the masochists.