Review Summary: In an attempt to be technical, Krallice's sophomoric effort ends up a meandering, bloated mess.
Comprised of epic track lengths, meandering song structures, and an absurd amount of technicality,
Dimensional Bleedthrough ranks as one of the most intricate and pretentious metal releases in recent history. Granted, it also ranks as one of the most genuinely experimental. But over time it becomes clear that the apparency of this experimentation is one of the album's downfalls. In desperate attempts to flaunt his virtuosity, Mick Barr alienates the listener with his excessive bombast. Lengthy forms of wankery become evident drawbacks of Krallice's sophomore album. Oftentimes just modes of expressing eclecticism and technicality, it becomes apparent that while constructing this album, Barr ignored songwriting to make room for excessive technicality. Most notably affected is “Monolith Of Possession”, an epic, jumpy track which approaches psychedelic-infused metal in a scatter-shot manner. Rarely using Barr's skill or the tremendous song length to its advantage, the album closer drags on and on. Though the palpable fusion of psychedelia and black metal is intriguing, its effect wears off after one realizes how tried the idea is. However, many ideas on
Dimensional Bleedthrough are over exemplified.
Besides the dissonant textural exploration that is “Untitled”, this album rehashes the very few focal points it features. Case in point: “Autochthon” revolves around somber riffs, flurries of notes, and psychedelic bombast. However, this boastful musicianship wears thin as the album goes on. Not only does this album lag and meander, but
Dimensional Bleedthrough is monotonous. Though intricate, many of this album's rhythms show just a scant of disparity throughout. For a while, the effect is impressive, but soon after, the repetition seems to be another form of Barr's braggadocios technical merit. Yet, spasmodic riffs and occasional flickers of angular dissonance do provide the listener with hope. When effective structure-climaxes, tempo shifts, and other musical devices-becomes evident,
Dimensional Bleedthrough proves to have some potential. This translates to some parts of “Aridity”, a relatively focused track which warrants Barr's technical merit. However, most of the potential that this album tithes is lost when obscure virtuosity becomes more evident than direction. Intricate in nature, yet bloated and errant in execution,
Dimensional Bleedthrough shows that technicality can only take you so far.
