Review of ‘The Paradox of Metanoia’ by Meta-stasis
If we can imagine Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees having a lovechild who later decided to forge nasty, vile and repugnant metal in our wildest dreams, then there is no need to dream any further as the evil psychopaths of Meta-stasis have successfully recreated the same in their latest, The Paradox of Metanoia. Following their debut in 2012, they have undergone an extreme process of botched up metamorphosis which has resulted in the most vicious form of predator to emerge from its pupa and seconds later sinking its foul-smelling, razor-sharp teeth into your jugular.
This album is inexplicable in terms of its style of music; it is a combination of death metal and blast beats served in a hot broth containing crispy electronica and fresh snake venom from a tropical jungle. At first glance, it sounds like Slipknot’s eponymous debut album back in ’99 along with some brutal electronica elements and crazy, technical yet catchy riffing.
Sitting down to spin this ear-splitting, riffocalyptic piece of monstrosity, the band opens with an aptly titled track, Welcome to My Asylum which hospitably ushers you in a dilapidated building with rotting woodwork where mutated creatures are feasting on the viscera of carcasses that lie strewn about the grimy floor while equally demented orderlies wearing bloodied overalls smile at you psychotically, waiting to put in restraints and lobotomize you. Moving on to the second track, The Thorn is straight out of the Amazonian rainforest with itchy jungle-beats and technical riffs. While Disintegrate balances the ferocity with gentle vocals staying true to their macabre nature all throughout it, United Monarchy takes a jab at the British royalty and has an exquisite guitar solo to go with it. Both the tracks Means to An End and Fathomless feature a very futuristic sound as the band decided to play their trump and demand the presence of their techno beats and scratches. Almost halfway through the maze, the band shakes things up with a deathcore-ish track, Son of The Priest which has one of the most bone-chilling intros ever. I am Nothing is one of those underrated gems that stay hidden in any album only to be discovered by the awed listener who has put the album on repeat. With an infectious groove and guttural vocals all over, the track seems like a nice break from all the techno-future things going on in the album. Under Your Skin is literally like an electrically-charged cyborg of a beast snarling at you every time you hear a riff in the song which is like a lot of times. While Ways of the Wise appears to be a bit repetitive in nature, Kill Her takes the cake with the outburst of pent-up emotions and killer riffing with the drumming going all crazy. The last one on the list, The Body Suffers While The Soul Flowers is like a gentle, spoken word track with electronic bits here and there but fails to make much of an impact even after hearing it for a couple of times.
Even though blurring all kinds of boundaries and mixing up everything in a boiling cauldron seems like something that may turn out to be catastrophic, Meta-stasis seems to have come out of it almost unharmed except for a few cuts and bruises here and there which is commendable. The usage of turntables seemed unnecessary at times and there were moments when the kick drums got way too worked up and gnawed at riffs for no good reason. However, the band members have shown their brilliance as far as musicianship is concerned especially in case of riffs and variable vocal ranges present all throughout the album. They put their expertise to good use by fusing technicality with grooves, using master-crafted riffs alongside brutal drumming that pushes the songs forward. Vocals consist of death metal growls and gutturals with light doses of clean vocals and shouts sprinkled over its entirety. Overall the whole amalgamation sounds extremely catchy, making you put the album on repeat until your ear starts bleeding.
Frankly I am not a fan of such electronically driven metal but this album is worth a listen because of how they have experimented and surpassed expectations, creating a grotesque commercial theatre through their music. The band has taken the term ‘extreme’ metal to a whole new level which seems sinister, terrifying and seductive at the same time. This is not for the faint-hearted or for the people who are not willing to listen to anything experimental, since this is as crazy as metal can get, blurring all the lines and putting everything in one single basket.
RATING: 8/10
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