NO MADE SENSE - THE EPILLANIC CHORAGI - 2009

Gloom descends. It descends upon the ‘Wake Of Syr’ and the beginning of No Made Sense’s epic debut long-player. Gloom within elongated, reverentially mourning strings which echo continuously out into an industrial backwash of dirtied effects. Then, as the thundering bass notes of the title-track spring forth, it is immediately apparent that this is no run-of-the-mill project. Whilst switching back and forth between Neurosis-laden doom and Pelican’s post-rock soundscapes, No Made Sense are suddenly tucking into jarring hardcore breaks and dabbling with psychotic, Mastodon-like, bollock-crunchingly heavy riffs. Constantly shifting form, like some kind of devil-horning chameleon, this is 11 minutes of utter bliss.

In two songs this UK three-piece have managed to make a mockery of the turgid shite that some so-called one-dimensional massive metal acts churn out; and we haven’t even got to the album highlight yet. Standing in the way is the monster of ‘Entases Of Azure’ - massive thudding feet and effervescent catawauls - and the ably deconstructed innards of its baby, ‘Seeking Beyond’. Then the 13-minute magnificence of ‘Malachis Depths’ is upon us - a tribal beating of drums and exhausted exhales that steadily sink down inside to reveal a cavernous space of dynamics where the sound folds in on itself and echoes softly, patiently squeezing out filth-soaked riffs and a series of cries that come directly from the mangled throat of a bleach gargler.

Emerging from this reverie briefly to assess just where this epic feast of metal has come from, one discovers that so far No Made Sense have shared a stage with, amongst others, alt-rockers Biffy Clyro and core-punks Ghost Of A Thousand. One suspects that this album will be seeing the end of such ill-matched pairings for them. Take the agonisingly sedentary death throes of ‘Epinolitholatyr’ or the brutal wrecking ball that is ‘Elico Moieties’ - fit those fuckers into a current Biffy set and see what happens.

Okay, the recording isn’t 100% free of glitches (the nearer to perfection you are, the more the imperfections stand out) and there is the vicious rumour that this all comes with some garbage dream back-story about a far-off planet, but not even these trifling matters can put a damper on just how much this potential album of the year will move you. Those of you that are now looking for said back-story obviously get a kick out of such things and each to his own, but for me, the music is where it’s at. And this is where it’s at. End of story.
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