This album would be more appropriately named Telapathetic with the Deceased, though I’m being overly harsh. On first listen I admit to being disappointed. The vocals are buried, the mix is horrible and the music is watered down suicide/doom black metal; run of the mill uninspired, unoriginal, monotonous.This one man band has been around nearly a decade and has been quite prolific in recent years, yet perhaps Malefic is not discerning enough, releasing everything and not just the best stuff. My first encounter with Xasthur was Nocturnal Poisoning, which did not really make an impression, good background music but all blended together and quite mesmerizingly monotonous. Being a complete nut, I bought the next five releases, including one rerelease, and found them on whole quite a lot better, so my expectations for this current album were a bit high. Never the less, I think even with low expectations, this would have been a let down. It’s time for a break, take a year off and get really pissed at the world again so we can get that anguish back in the vocals. The world is a bit full of Burzum clones anyway.

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