Review Summary: Noisy Indian death metal created to obliterate all that stands in its wake
Hailing from Kolkata, India, Tetragrammacide is a three piece death metal band mostly known for their extremely chaotic sound and absolutely heinous production. That being said, Tetragrammacide has actually made quite a leap forward with
Primal Incinerators . Aside from it being their first full length release,
Primal Incinerators is also their most musical. Some fans may be familiar with their EP
Typhonian Wormholes , but this album is actually quite different. Where the EP was mostly noise with some discernible musicianship going on,
Primal Incinerators Of Moral Matrix is closer to death metal rather than the noise that was present on previous efforts. It’s a marked shift towards a more professional appearance and sound. This is aided by the addition of a dedicated guitarist, whereas there were only two members before.
Something immediately apparent on the first song is that this album will be a no holds barred audial assault on all those foolish enough to attempt a listen. The riffs played by guitarist "S(d)S(t)", I mean "Unorthodox String Theorist" S(d)S(t), are unrelenting, punishing, and outright formidable. While they may eventually blend together, the riffs actually have a decent amount of variety for what could be considered a war metal album. There are also several instances of actual melody as well as finger tapping on songs like "Cyberzerking" or "Imperial Cyanide" further accentuating the band’s progression in sound . When combined with the nearly endless blast beats or double bass drumming from longtime drummer "U. Eliminator", the instrumentation on
Primal Incinerators is about as heavy as any sane individual would want. While only one guitarist is credited, there are more than a few instances of dual guitar playing on the album, this is especially noticeable when a solo is being performed.
Adding to this onslaught of fury are the lo-fi death growls from the "Masked Heretical Vishuddha Transmitter" (or vocalist for short) "M. Opium". These vocals never change throughout the album, but they never seem to grow boring either. Rather than being a centerpiece of
Primal Incinerators , the vocals are more of a backing instrument. No lyrics have been published and there may not have been any in the first place. These vocals are aided by the gritty and rather noisy production. The production is far better than on all previous releases, but it is still far from clean. Everything that needs to be heard is still able to be. While not all individual notes being played will be able to be heard, that wasn't the intention or purpose of the style in the first place.
Primal Incinerators is more focused on a wall of sound rather than any sort of technical or singular instrument.
An aspect an observant reader may have picked up on now that's equally as puzzling as it is intriguing is the near obsession with incredibly long and esoteric descriptions and titles. Rather than having a normal song name, Tetragrammacide decide to create something different. As an example, the second shortest song title on
Primal Incinerators is "Transcranial Ka'abatronic Stimulation Collapse". Whereas most bands creating this style of brutality choose to go against christianity, Tetragrammacide choose a decidedly more cosmic approach. Often dealing with themes of what sounds like made up higher level sciences and mystical ideology. Due to this, the presentation of this album is entirely unique.
Primal Incinerators is not an album for most people. The only times this album lets up are during the very short samples in some songs or the absolutely terrible interlude. If you want an album to push the limits of vitriol and pure audial punishment, then look no further.
