XEPER
Discourses On Anything So Absolute
Earthworm Production
The research I conducted while reviewing Xeper revealed at least four bands with this name, one from Italy that plays black metal, one from Croatia that plays black metal, one from Bosnia/Herzegovina that plays melodic death metal and one from the US (specifically Baltimore, Maryland) that plays a fusion of black, death, doom and sludge. This last band is the focus of this review; I received a promo of their debut CD from Keith of A Wormhole Zine in the package with the May 14/In The Moonlight split and mixed compilation reviewed in this blog earlier. Further research uncovered some more information about the band’s vocalist who was writing for metal-divinity.tk in the 2000s though I don’t know what he is doing at present. This band formed in 2001 and this 2006 full length is, as far as I know, their only release. I haven’t found any contact information or web addresses which is a shame considering the potential they evince in these eight songs. For its raw sound quality it displays a level of sophistication and a sense of being well thought out in its arrangement. As opposed to assaulting you full on through their musicianship, Xeper builds a steadily growing tension, slowly mounting as if communicating a long simmering rage that eventually explodes into a storm of agony and wrath. It retreats and builds, retreats and builds; you think it has run its course but the cycle has only returned to its starting point. One can only imagine what inspired the ideas they put across in these compositions, but they tap into a place in one’s mind from where there is no escape. This is less of an album and more of a journey into futility and perpetual despair, marked by the abrasive, dissonant guitars and the high pitched shrieks contrasting the lower pitched guttural vocals with frightening clarity. This is a band I would have liked to hear more from, and again it’s unfortunate they only released one album. -Dave Wolff
Track List:
1. Winter's Best
2. Jesus Was a Capricorn
3. New Aged Invertebrate
4. The Sun Dies Out
5. Alone, Daggers for Eyes at the Sky
6. So That Leviathan May Strike Again
7. Polymorphic Monochromatic Hologram
8. Ja nyt hänen poikansa kertoo tarinansa
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