THANTIFAXATH
THANTIFAXATH “Hive Mind Narcosis”
By Dr. Abner Mality
You can never be sure when these ominously enigmatic Canadians will bubble to the surface of the fetid morass we call reality. Hooded and mysterious before those qualities became an overdone trend, they’ve chosen 2023 for their return. “Hive Mind Narcosis” is here to perplex and engage curious listeners.
This is the shadowy area of black metal that we call “avant-garde”. Although very few bands sound like THANTIFAXATH, one of those bands is certainly DEATHSPELL OMEGA and this record has a strong influence from the French nihilists. The last DEATHSPELL effort was pretty soft compared to their previous output, so “Hive Mind Narcosis” comes along at the perfect time if you like strange, challenging music rooted in black metal. It’s also the best produced and clearest THANTIFAXATH yet...the murkiness of old has been replaced by clear and rich tones. That being said, this album doesn’t give an inch when it comes to unconventional song structure and odd time signatures.
“Solar Witch” lurches into being with a twisted doomy shuffle and proceeds to a dizzying procession of uneasy, interlocking riffs that still manage to have a perverse catchiness. The band spend much of the album rushing right to the edge of the abyss, but pulling back from it just before it falls into complete twaddle. They double down with the epic “Surgical Utopian Love”, which throws everything but the kitchen sink at you while remaining pitch black throughout. This is the song where the debt to DEATHSPELL OMEGA is most obviously repaid. The grinding, trollish vocals are also much like that band.
The rest of the album continues to assault the mind with aggressive, outré riffs, diversions into mellow but dark passages and general unease. “Hungry Ghosts” starts all jangly but gradually picks up speed and intensity; “Blissful Self Disassembly” is a Lovecraftian soundscape ala BLUT AUS NORD; the closer “Mind of the Sun” sounds like a swarm of angry metal bees on the attack. Black mathcore, if you can believe it.
This is really the next step for THANTIFAXATH which manages to be simultaneously more accessible yet just as dangerous and challenging as past material. If you can handle a plunge into the deepest part of the ocean, hold your breath and dive in…