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QRIXKUOR "The Womb of the World"
QRIXKUOR "The Womb of the World"
By Dr. Abner Mality
Birmingham, England, the birthplace of heavy metal, has now issued forth "The Womb Of The World" by QRIXKUOR...and what a massive, overwhelming opus of utter blackness it is! This combines the deepest, most subterranean sounds of death metal with the bombast of dark classical music to create a mighty depraved epic. Just imagine fellow British death metal acts like GRAVE MIASMA and CRUCIAMENTUM as starting points. And then add the kind of lush and diabolic orchestration that CRADLE OF FILTH wishes they could come up with on a consistent basis.
There is a LOT to take in here and I won't try to analyze all the twists and turns of the four lengthy tunes on "Womb of the World". 3 of the tracks exceed the 10 minute mark...which is usually a red flag for me. And QRIXKUOR almost goes careening off the rails and into the abyss...almost, but not quite! There are many places on the album where chaos comes flying in, but "S" and "D" manage to keep it in check. The shortest track, "And You Shall Know Perdition As Your Shrine", is the most unhinged and at times almost becomes the metallic equivalent of free jazz. A little bit much for even hardened death-heads to take in.
But there are many times during the other tracks when the cavernous, vile riffing just grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. PORTAL is another name that can be invoked here. And there are points where the expertly composed symphonic orchestration sounds like the Battle of Armageddon given musical form. There are other symphonic death metal bands, but none sound as oppressive or wild as QRIXKUOR.
Frankly, the title track, impressive as it is, is just too long. But nonetheless, this record is quite the ambitious achievement...if you can take the darkness.
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