Review Summary: The jagged edge of death metal rears its head again.
For an introduction into Hierarchies, it’s better to first look into the brainchild of Nick Turner and Jared Moran’s Acausal Intrusion. A chaotic brand of swirling death metal, tapped deep into a world where dissonance and non-conformity reach uncharted climes. A maze of riffs and non-circular drums crash through the expectations of what
is listenable music. It’s from Acausal Intrusion, Hierarchies and their
self-titled debut is born. Somehow Hierarchies’ debut is more chaotic, balls to the wall, born of the bastard death metal child of improv and Ad Nauseam’s twice-removed nanny. It’s as if these guys are convinced to make less conventional music each and every time they hit the studio.
“Entity” is visceral. A launching pad into a world of tin can aesthetic, primal, garage band recordings made for the weird and wonderful purveyors of today’s jaded listeners. Nothing is ever perfect, and Hierarchies ensure this delectable excursion isn’t the sickly sweet million-dollar projection into the cosmos. That in itself could be perfect right? It doesn't even matter. For seven and a half minutes,
Hierarchies’ opener outlines exactly what this debut will offer. “Consecrate Phenomenon” ropes together dissonant, ear-wrenching riffs into a glorious cesspool of starts and stops only to tie them weirdly together with leads and
melody. “Consecrate Phenomenon” wanders around less than the longer opener but is no less unorthodox or abstract—and that is where
Hierarchies’ really hits its stride. Sure, the longer, progressive jaunts around death metal’s more left-field avant takes have been in tune (or in Ad Nauseam’s case, their own tunings) with what listeners want from the innovators breaking down the walls of the genre, but here it’s the more direct, to-the-point rush to death metal’s more extremes that cut through the wish-wash that allows Hierarchies a seat at the same table that Pyrrhon, Dwelling Below (who this act also shares members), Skin Tension and yes, even titans Ad Nauseam.
Hierarchies does lose some of its luster as it gets to its middle. “Dimension”, “Twilight Tradition” and “Abstract” all tease a track time of over six minutes. While this isn’t at all as long as “Entity” the ideas here would present better if they were a rough shot sledgehammer to any listener's frontal lobe, rather than the sprawling long game attempt at introspection. A small gripe in an otherwise remarkable entry to the death metal soundscape; nuance be damned and forgotten. Rest assured, by the time “Complexity Parallels” comes around, balance is restored. Maybe in a not-so-distant future these guys can try stringing longer compositions together, but as of right now, it’s simply not needed.
“Subtraction” and “Vultures” neatly (or rather dissonantly) close out the album’s forty-seven-minute run-time. By this point the formula here is a balance of familiar discordant tropes and a maelstrom of riffs. As abrasive as
Hierarchies sounds, there’s also a gentle ebb and flow that this one-two final punch brings together. As odd as it sounds, “Vultures” has a wholesome atmosphere that just encompasses everything that came before. The usual cop-out applies here; not everyone is going to love just how anti-accessible, spaghetti basket, glitter bomb this death metal is—but, if you can focus on this in bits and pieces and then tie it into one big smoosh-ball of caustic, dissonant energy you’ll do better than okay.
Hierarchies smashes expectation, comes out of nowhere and deserves rotation among the contemporaries mentioned above.
