Concluding a trilogy for Quebec band Phobocosm, Foreordained is an abysmal-sounding bell announcing the end of our world. This soundtrack to a disembodied apocalypse is one that few metal bands manage to produce.
Phobocosm’s strength lies in its ability to remain faithful to the musical language of death metal, while purging it of any elements that might distract from the gloomy, menacing atmosphere that inspires its music. There are no guitar solos or pentatonic rifffing reminiscent of a blues-rock heritage to emphasize the instrumentalists’ performance. Yet, some of the key tools of extreme metal are present: chromaticisms, tremolos, and Phrygian articulations. Played in a register that remains extremely low and punctuated by drums that oscillate between tribal heaviness and uncompromising blast beats, these guitar elements attack affects head-on.
The oppressive feeling of being crushed under the weight of human history drags us through Foreordained‘s narrative arc. The higher-pitched melodic layers that sometimes line this Dantesque mass are superimposed on the brutality and evolve at lower rhythmic density, like a funeral march emerging from the ruins.
The distinctive timbre of the voice also deserves mention. Without departing from the deep roar typical of death metal, the prophetic growl heard here is intense and articulate. Yet its texture is endowed with a crackle usually associated with the less intelligible variants of this vocal technique. Despite these overhanging echoes, the story told on Foreordained is resolutely devoid of humanity and hope.
