Review Summary: Thrust.
One piece of anthropomorphic poultry, after spouting a stream of unintelligible Scottish nonsense, managed to finalize the answer to chicken flight with a single word. "Thrust". While the science behind Nick Park's 2000 film is rather questionable, applying this quote to Sol Sistere's debut is about as undeniably accurate as they come.
Unfading Incorporeal Vacuum consistently fights an uphill battle against originality, execution, and songcraft, but manages to stand its ground with confident (and somewhat exhausted) stature. Its shortcomings are glaring, but much like
Chicken Run's famous flying machine, this album ungracefully carries its army to the finish line.
"Death Knell" makes clear from its very first few seconds that melody is key here. Gorgeous, reverberated ringing and airy leads lay the path for an oncoming legion of blasts and shredding to bound into war on. It is a brutal sight to behold. The song bounds between pummeling highs and calmer interludes with very little in way of transition. While a return of the opening riff work makes a connecting appearance towards the conclusion of the song, there is very little else in way of cohesion. Unfortunately, this lack of tying elements is evident over
Unfading Incorporeal Vacuum's run time. Riffs strut out like the jagged edges of a precipice at obscure angles, and while every song is loaded with addictive melody, there is very little distinction between songs. Prime offender, "Sight of the Oracle", simply uses instrumentation, or a lack thereof, as transition pieces. Simply cutting out every instrument except for a guitar or bass is not indicative of clever songwriting, and the end result can be frustratingly abrupt.
The barbaric, unethical, free-for-all fighting style Sol Sistere have adopted with their debut is messy, but glimmers of hope are strewn throughout generously enough to make the experience worth it. As "Degraded Soul" and "6th Replicant" masterfully weave in and out of extreme dynamics, a picture is formed of what this album could have been had the approach to songwriting been prioritized over the approach to individual segments. Much like the invention of Nick Park's chickens, their machine does fly. The sum of its parts, and the integrity of their structuring however, leaves a lot to be desired. Brief moments of absolute genius are scattered throughout its design. It is the brevity of these moments that hurts the record.
Unfading Incorporeal Vacuum soars when all of its elements operate in unison; if only such unity was a primary focus. The chickens may have had a psychotic farmer to worry about, but the levels of thrust in Sol Sistere's songwriting are excruciatingly excessive.
