Review Summary: tantric anxiety.
The post-Vedic Hindu concept of trimurti (literally meaning "three forms") is a model that reconciles three major Gods - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - into a singular form. This supreme and unified deity is responsible for the creation, preservation and destruction of the physical world in all its forms, uniting in what is commonly referred to as the "Ultimate Reality". It's a spiritual archetype that goes quite deep, as does the tenets of Hinduism in general, so to craft a work of art to acknowledge it with dignity is no small undertaking. Unfortunately for the Italian black metallers known as Drought, their shot at paying homage to this sizeable slab of subject matter seems to miss the mark musically, sullying the exotic flavours and concepts beyond repair.
The triad of Trimurti and the three phases of Pranayama, channelled through Drought on their debut LP by way of Avantgarde Music, transmute the preconceived limitations of their blackened-death-metal-leaning-black-metal framework to manifest a work of philosophical music, but in doing so they seem to get lost in their own concepts, with a faltering sense of artistic consistency apparently being the price to pay for their staunch adherence to the subject matter at hand. If the words "Tantric", "Pranayama", and "Trimurti" all translated into "stressful songs with milquetoast dissonance and shoehorned ambient sections" the album might have made a lot more sense. Tragically, these words bear little resemblance to such a thing, and while a supposed exploration of spiritual turmoil underpins the album's motifs, the only real suffering at hand is on the end of the listener. One on hand, monotony at the behest of unmemorable movements permeates the dense swaths of dread, but worse yet, even the aimless unease loses a chance at hypnosis thanks to some rather blindsiding detours into various bouts of atmospheric what-have-you's. One can't help but feel like
Trimurti should been so much more than it is when the impressive onslaught of "Bharitakara" is taken hostage by "Mystical Solar Eruption" and its 6-minute exploration of dark ambient immediately after. Unfortunately, that refusal to carry to momentum is a trend that saturates the album's runtime.
There's just not enough happening here to justify such an outright esoteric theme, and through
Trimurti's proceeding, the deviations from purist black metal with a heedless lack of flow serves as a huge detraction from what could have been a serviceable slab of nightmarish oeuvre. Prodding at the exotic realms of spirituality is nothing new for the genre, and it
can be done well, but only if the ingredients match the recipe. In this regard, the mysterious Drought brought most of what is needed to the table, they just didn't cook it well, and the result is a three course meal that comes off as unseasoned at best. The riffs, while discordant and anxious, often feel unresolved, and even the songs that wink at palatable sensibility offer little in the way of emotional redemption. Whether or not this is a purposefully curated vibe is moot, because try as it might,
Trimurti's dedication to it's own vision eschews a suitably fitting level of intrigue. The catawampous midpoint of this sonic triad is the biggest culprit, with ambient dirges lacing needless interruption into the manic fervour with frustrating regularity. Every step on a hot coal forward is met with a stumble, leaving toasted palms that get little respite save for the at-least promising opening trio of tracks. It reaches a head in the same sideways skid, staving off any epochal crescendo that might justify the swirling dervish ad nauseam, with "Lotus Awareness" and "Tantric Supremacy" instead opting to crank the panic levels to 11 before fading back into the oblivion from whence they came. It's all a hot mess, but despite the ceaseless frustration it is evident that Drought are good enough musicians for their next incarnation to be a success, with terrifying vocals and steadfast percussion fencing in some solid guitar work. They got the chops to make something memorable, but in order to do so they'll have to sow more interesting patterns into their tapestry, and take the time to let their ideas ferment into heady brews. Taking on the robust themes of eastern spirituality and worldly esotericism is noble and essential in the 21st century, but in order to count for something, the songwriting needs to rise to the occasion. Tantric black metal could and should have a future in the world of extreme music, and while Drought missed the mark here, they thankfully offered enough gusto to garner some optimism about the future of this sub-sub-genre of spiritually infused mayhem.
