Returning for another stretch into the dismal expanse of the afflicted skull Utrecht, Netherlands-based avant-garde/dissonant death/black metal quartet DEFACEMENT regroove the skeletal matrices of their craft in order to better path their way beyond outright oppressive fire on this third full-length album. Unpredictable and challenging upon first impression yet appreciably esoteric in its developing charm ‘Duality‘ is almost ironically a product of smart fusion rather than a separation of forms into extremes as the band’s best traits as a future-seeker are gathered. Though it is difficult to stand out beyond a few pockets of muse-worthy interest within the now well-charted realm of dissonant, eerie extremism here we find an adaptive and still curious approach which still smacks of the digital-age underground’s based and better for it modus.

Defacement formed circa 2019 between folks previously known for their work in Deathcrush, though those associations were not made obviate out the gates. When their debut album (‘Deviant‘, 2019) arrived on Bandcamp out of the blue I’d definitely taken notice, describing their sound as something like atmospheric death meets occult black metal where blown-out production values and a blasted through performance on drums recalled Adversarial for the sake of the brutal atmo-burst of their sound which’d still been built on a death metal foundation. That foundation had fully crumbled away by the time their I, Voidhanger-released second album (‘Defacement‘, 2021) began to point in a direction more clearly inspired by the generations beyond Portal‘s hand (i.e. Hissing, Mitochondrian) in taking a deeper step away from chaotic death metal toward atmospheric yet dissonant black metal. As a fan this was taken as the band pointing in a more modern direction rather than staring into the past divine, and their path appears to continue into the future with ‘Duality‘ as they iterate upon the structure of ‘Defacement‘ while continuing to deploy newly gained abilities and interests.

‘Duality‘ aims to wield dynamism over punishment and Defacement‘s path to that point is of course the excision of the vast majority of their blast-beaten atmospheric death metal climes. Instead here they reach for a more varietal tempo map and what we lose in the process (the fixation available to the first two releases) is a net gain in overall interest and experiential value. Far more peaking points of insight dot this album compared to previous and I’m not sure the band’ve found a way to contain this sorcery quite yet, their work yet reads as a melee of underground enthuse rather than a polished, practiced directive and in this sense it still appeals to me as arte-musick. From the outrageous scald-and-soar of “Scabulous” and its second half to the hex of the opener (“Burden”) through the inconsolable sixteen minute roar of the title track/closer here we find the goods at the basin, the fuming pit that’d fed all that bluster upward.

Opening piece “Optic” acts as the first of four interstitial waves (named for nerve centers affecting the cranial region) which separate the otherwise four main events that make up ‘Duality‘. I’d considered these place markers, prompts which all appear to feature experimentation with electronic music of various type and niche. This particular piece sounds like it’d come directly from the realm of Norio Hanzawa‘s Alien Soldier (1995) soundtrack which is not exactly a “chiptune” but FM synthesis/modulation in use of dissonant and interruptive frequencies, lending an improvised feeling of disarray to the start of the album. We’re just as quickly in the midst of the groaning and seething haul of “Burden”, probably the most important piece here in terms of setting the overall tone and expectation of what ‘Duality‘ is beyond an effuse and erratic black metal record. Its ~10 minute stretch of crossed streams match up progressive metal leads and down-struck blasts as the rhythm guitars take turns carving out cavernous bellows, bestial and droning marches which aren’t particularly unique in the moment but still pulverize in their overall effect. The expectation set here is an admixture with some curious depth, one moment is eclectic and the next is perhaps the expected vacuum of dissonant nox one’d want from Defacement at this point. All of it arrives uneven, dissociative.

“Barrier” is the most succinct, driven statement of the four main songs on ‘Duality‘ providing clearer inkling that each song here attempts to embody its lyrical themes and finds some manner of concept in its title and the nerve center its pre-emptive interlude suggests. Again, consider this similar to the arrangement of the previous album which’d concerned itself with the “limbo” state of emotional distress and disconnection. Conceptual body horror aside the unbreakable Portal fan within certainly appreciate the direction intimated by this piece as its horrified and ghastly chasm of sound will yet be the bulk of the experience here with fewer progressive metal distractions and intensified collages of bruised and wrathful movements as we move on to the second half of the album. That said the sentimental touch of atmospheric black metal hasn’t yet let loose of its grip and if you’re not a fan there’ll be a few big moments to punctuate ‘Duality‘ in this way coming up.

“Duality” is probably the biggest ask here not only in terms of focus as a 16+ minute album closer but as a key representative of the album. What it adds to the overall experience in terms of two additional extremes, exploring both foreboding yet sentimental work throughout is worthy enough as a stretch of their usual boundaries. Naturally this dark beginning and eased release at the end of the song reflect the title in some respect but I couldn’t say I was a fan of how the album ended on an almost sweet note after the bulk of it’d been harrowing as possible, a bit possessed in the process; There are of course a handful of deeper pockets of interest strewn throughout each of the four main pieces on this album but when dealing with abstracted black/death metal it is up to the listener and the moment to dictate what sticks, if anything. I’d found more of a connection with the middle two pieces overall as I feel this band make their best statements within ~5-6 minute chunks.

There are two ways I could look at ‘Duality‘ in hindsight: On one hand I’d found proper aggro-mental stimulation and challenge in this album which is both chaotically set and enriching in its (mostly) exceptional construction. With consideration for their focus on a more dynamic set of performances via additional vocal expression, but also in rethinking the range of tempo deployed across the map. There is clear value here in the still-estranged myriad woes of their work. That alone is enough to praise the act and the fallout of its results. On the other hand I know my own habits, how this type of record tends to last in my mind and what it’d need to stick around, and by no fault of the authorship this album won’t likely become a lasting part of my habits. That said it certainly wasn’t in one ear and out the other this time around, as I’d felt with the previous album but if I must be a tourist and a visitor to this planet of theirs then I’ve enjoyed myself and found a compelling ~48 minute avant-garde/dissonant black metal album to muse over in the moment. A moderately high recommendation.

Note: Co-released with Total Dissonance Worship.

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