Review Summary: Ancient malevolent cascades…
*** me.
How are we already three fingers deep into the year already? I mean, we were so all invested in working off our respective dad bods (or mum bods if you’re so inclined), improving vitamin deficiencies (this one less than others...probably) and jumping from one political zeitgeist to the next that these weeks have come and gone with not so much of a “how do you do?” Whatever your particular (individual) scenario, the year has moved at a steady pace. As a fan of music, particularly metal, I personally spend a lot of my time gauging how successful a year is compared to the music it offers. For example; if the year in question has had a host of preferable releases (Ad Nauseam, Krallice, Blindfolded And Led To The Wolves - the list goes on...), I’d call it a “good” year, which often brings a feeling that the year itself is moving (too) quickly. It’s a weird measure to grasp, especially for ‘normal’ people who don’t obsess over when the next big album of the year drops. For these remarkable, oblivious people, the year is surely to continue at the same rate; a montage of holidays like Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas flying by without consequence. Even with this in mind it’s hard to root myself in the present, slow down and enjoy the “now”. This sort of introspection leads me to I, Voidhanger’s May releases, namely Acausal Intrusion’s debut,
Nulitas.
In that regard, we’ve already had a few album of the year contenders before 2021’s halfway mark. Yet, it’s no small feat that I would even consider the likes of
Nulitas’ avant garde approach to death metal amongst such premiere acts—despite the competition, Acausal Intrusion’s debut is a remarkable show of force from a two piece that’s hinting, just hinting at so much more. More importantly, deserving of the accolades that come from such a massive release.
The two minute introductory, “Corpus” saunters into the fray, a host of burly atmospherics and tension, but not a riff is heard until “Transcending The Veil”. It’s here that we begin to get a grasp on the aural formula that Acausal Intrusion offers. Dissonance runs rampart, bread and butter on the plate of non-traditional death metal landscapes and roaring, guttural vocals.
Nulitas transitions itself in both jarring and seamless ways as it fancies, by simply falling into a new stride but also caters to a deeper chasm as if born from something slightly more ancient in design. In its extremities, Acausal Intrusion’s debut bridges the gaps between an off-center Ulcerate and a somewhat straighter Ad Nauseam, while somehow conforming to the Gorguts, Suffering Hour and Tchornobog’s of this world. “Transcending The Veil” fits well into the year’s current obsession with dissonant death metal that’s as progressive as it is blurring, but
Nulitas remains completely accessible, a juxtaposition to the genre’s wider stereotypes. “Nexious Shapeshifters” is likewise lunging, slithering through different tempos and winding, ever-changing time signatures. It’s clearly at odds with a style that would make inaccessible music well...accessible, but it becomes that and more—blending black metal machinations into doom ***ery while staying inescapably “death metal”.
Nulitas’ real brilliance however, is in its overall spacing. There’s a smattering of atmospheric interludes that break apart the wall of dissonant death metal. These tracks, “Animus” and “Nomen” provide ample room for the listener, while bridging the outright dissonant climes with dystopian, almost apocalyptic tones. It’s suitable perhaps that Acausal Intrusion would choose these vibes to offset their brand of deathly metal. It’s these interluding moments that allow the likes of “Qabbalistic Conjoining Existence,” “Tetrahedron Quartz,” and “Nebulous Ceremonial Temple” to stand up, crush a few hyperbolic skulls and still lead the charge through sheer malevolence. Of all
Nulitas’ tracks, these few are the most organic, free-flowing displays of disso-death, shifting between the straightforwardness of blast beats and growls, while being transformed by the lunging sink and rise of the song’s particular tempos and weirder black metal leanings. Yes, this is a formula that’s been done before, but it’s rare for it to come across so whole-heartedly, so well-placed.
There’s also some recurring, almost repetitive compositional ideas that help bring
Nulitas’ more quirksome phrases together. Sure, there’s the low growls of a guttural roar (staples in most extreme niches of the genre), but there’s also a recurrence of doomy, ringing riff work and snappy bass kicks that peter in and out of the mix. Whether it’s the introspective, ho-hum riffs a la “Transcending The Veil” or the underlying synth work that wraps “Nexious Shapeshifters”,
Nulitas ensures a tying few ideas to bring one to the other. In just, just falling short of an hour’s run time, Acausal Intrusion’s debut seemingly flies by. Thankfully, the album’s overall playability is maintained through its spacing on a first or even nth listen.
Nulitas breathes fresh, dynamic death metal air and sits amongst the few contemporaries that have had years to master their craft. Fairly, Acausal Intrusion’s debut may have to duke it out with the likes of Suffering Hour and Ad Nauseam’s 2021 entries, but as spectators, these front row seats aren’t so bad.
