ALBUM OF THE DAY: MISERICORDIAM, UNANIMITY AND THE CESSATION OF HOSTILITY
If anyone remembers the Completely Unreadable Logo of the Week for July 6, 2007, then you’ll actually know who Misericordiam already. I hadn’t started writing for MS at that point, but I was thrilled to see the band represented on the site when I later went looking through the archives. Unfortunately, the group then proceeded to break up; fortunately, they’ve been back together for a while now (albeit with a completely different lineup). So I thought it would be prudent to rewind back to their most recent EP, 2007’s Unanimity and the Cessation of Hostility.
Combine the frantic spastic grind of Rotten Sound with the crushing heaviness of Ion Dissonance and the slam elements of Disfiguring the Goddess, and you might be getting somewhat close to an accurate description of Misericordiam. Get ready for insane drum patterns, low and fast guitar breaks, and crushingly low vocals over the top.
Technicality and maybe even melody aren’t completely forsaken, though, as on “The Need Not Needless” or “Double Penetrated Debate.” But most of the time, even the best listener will have to really strain to hear those elements. The really special thing about Misericordiam is this kind of flawed synchronicity that they do. Take the breakdown in “Insomnia” — the left and right guitars are just barely out of sync, but enough so that it’s clearly intentional, and that lack of sync creates this crazy out-of-control feel that just drives the songs relentlessly forward. Yes, there are breakdowns. No, they’re not constant or repetitive, and no, they aren’t painful to listen to.
Misericordiam is absolutely a love/hate kind of band. Their music sure isn’t too inviting or listenable for the average metalhead, but fans of brutal stuff will surely find themselves with a new favorite band. They’ve also got an older EP, Ten Days in Catalina, and a full-length, A Thin Line Between Man and Machine, but these releases are, on the whole, more in the vein of generic deathcore, and aren’t worth spending a lot of time on.
Check Misericordiam out here. They’ve got a new album coming out later this year, and they’re on tour right now.
-DM
