Not a long time ago, in the suburbs of Metalville, a young guitarist was experimenting with his guitar when he accidentaly stroke some chords. The outcome was a dissonance that he, despite his musical training, thought it sounded so good. Then he tried the effect on a song he was working on and he thought something was missing. Then, voilà, dissonances were incorporated in Metal music.
Ok, this is only a tale, because I really do not know who started using dissonances to add to Metal music songs. But the outome we are all aware of it, it is fantastic. It brings some kind of agression and chaos that only Metal music is able to deliver. It adds a feeling of despair and relentlessness that only Metal music bands are capable of delivering.
Here we’ve got Phasma with “Purgatory,” an album that uses and abuses of lots dissonances and proves that Extreme Metal is something else with them. Moreover, the band explores extravagant features and sounds to create an atmopshere of chaos and despair as the tittle of the album says: “Purgatory.” Therefore, the band provides some sonic expereiences that recreate the atmosphere of pain and misery purgatory must be made of, allegedly. By the way, Phasma is derived from Ancient Greek φάσμα (apparition, phantom), refers to a ghost, spectral apparition, or, in biology, a genus of stick insects, specifically referencing their ghostly, transparent, or camouflaged appearance. It signifies an unexpected, often unsettling, appearance or omen.
Interestingly, “Purgatory‘s” tracks do not have titles, but numbers instead. This may be an estrategy to avoid bring interest to only one of them or to avoid interest at all. The tracks are atrip around Extreme Metal nuances as Phasma use lots of moods from Death Metal and Black Metal as in “III.” “V,” for instance is ferocious with that relentless drumming followed by an insane unearthly voice. The track interweaves fast moments with cool ones with no advice. A trip around Extreme Metal music.
Phasma “Purgatory” was released on February 20th via Transcending Obscurity Records.
Track listing:
1. I
2. II
3. III
4. IV
5. V
6. VI
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!