An erratic vision of a fallen empire built upon another wherein a mass of death and stone collapse into randomly gathered piles offers a fatalistic peer into the void-mirror, premonitions generated at terminus layered into maddening vignettes as Berlin, Germany-based avant-garde death metal duo INGURGITATING OBLIVION peer beyond the bleak edge and craft from thin air this imposing double album, their fourth overall. Ringing with sinking dread-bound dissonance and molten atonal ante-gravitas ‘Ontology of Nought‘ is both a derangement of technical death metal and an oasis for progressive-isms unwilling to take turns any longer as they clash, roar, and swell within a terrifyingly luminous form of expression. Five enormous pools of immersive quicksilvered death bleed out atop a skeleton of jazz fusion’d prog-metallic gloria within as their work abstracts to a third exponent, right to the squirming edge of the avant-garde in the true sense of the word. The only glue available for their handiwork is the emptiness that refuses to contain their unbridled creation, a mainline characterization of void and the whimpering haul of futility siphoned inward via time and death.

Ingurgitating Oblivion formed under the name Of Trees and Orchids circa 1995/1996 spearheaded by guitarist Florian Engelke as a first attempt at songcraft which’d been inspired by later Emperor and My Dying Bride (among others) for a progressive, broad-minded form of blackened death metal on their debut demo CD-r (‘Fragmente aus dem Fließenden‘, 1998) though this was followed by quite a bit of turnover for the original quartet, eventually largely resetting the band for a second album-length demo (‘Though Cathedral‘, 2000) which was closer in attunement with the technical death metal of the time as the early 90’s generation began to innovate unto abstraction and complexity. In some sense there as a sort of Opeth-esque soul to some of this but the roots for a more brutal, technical yet eclectic vision were set therein. Following a name change and another album length demo (‘Cadence and Perspective in Delusion‘, 2001) which was quite advanced for its era, taking the hinge-point delirium of Immolation and Gorguts with a foundation of Morbid Angel infused brutal death this was certainly a product of its time and eh, well it has been long enough that an album in that style would do just fine releasing today. In building toward a level wherein they’d been readied to release something official a clear taste in ambitious, volatile and often challenging works had been revealed and beyond that point it was a matter of their skill level catching up.

The first point of great impact upon the greater tech-death underground served by Ingurgitating Oblivion will undoubtedly sound hyper-normal in hindsight as their debut LP (‘Voyage to Abhorrence‘, 2005) appeared ruthlessly straight forward and right down to the linearly set guitar compositions which frame the blasting n’ gnashing opening moments but for the specialist at the time it was a shotgunned album which had bits of ‘Unholy Cult‘, and Deeds-level chunk and shuffle riffing enough that it was a razor-bladed medium in a year where the old ways weren’t far from being left behind as tech-death went through a sci-fi, deathcore, and shred-happy phase all at once. This is probably only important contextual reminder for folks closer to my age, of course, but it was the start of an era for the band that’d trailed on forever (’til ~2015) having produced a follow-up (‘Continuum of Absence‘, 2014) where once again most chairs and positions had shifted with the exception of Engelke and vocalist Ulrich Kreienbrink (now of Abythic). At the time any respectable tech-death fan had that album on their list and of course it was being directly compared to ‘Coloured Sands‘ which’d released the year before to intense acclaim. This was a breakthrough in terms of avant-garde placement, atonal fugue states, dual guitar enlacement and the general corruption of their work to a point of appreciable artistry. Problem being that there was a flood of this type of band at the time.

So, the argument I make here is pretty simple: If you are not familiar with this band and you have no sense of the foundation they’ve built over the course of almost three decades it will be worth it to witness that greater progression before aligning with ‘Ontology of Nought‘ today and its very related birth-mother ‘Vision Wallows in Symphonies of Light‘ (2017). I fully understand that it’ll sound unruly, terribly pretentious to suggest that Ingurgitating Oblivion was a band/project before their third album hit and from that point they’d created what I’d consider art-metal beyond that point but I only do so to emphasize the leap into the future-sight of death metal abstraction as they’d once again been ahead of the curve in more ways than one while still delivering a brutal, myriad projection of classic avant-garde guitar voicing. Pair a luminary performance of erratic, improbable hyper-‘Obscura‘ forms with drumming from Defeated Sanity‘s Lille Gruber and of course it’d been an album you’ll likely regret not having heard and sat with for years before approaching ‘Ontology of Nought’. I say this because this new album takes this sense of natural death metal voicing, the pulverizing rattle and roar of tradition being bent into a kaleidoscope of glazed-over psychic horrors, and shatters it across the floor to the point that it comes dangerously close to the edge of musique concrète-level abstraction, a thing pieced together by a possessed layering of nature’s corruption. So, if you are expecting a follow-up which slots easily into the category of “avant-garde death metal” but doesn’t fit the definition of avant-garde expect an exciting, mind-bending challenge ahead.

Granted there were far-out as possible pieces on Ingurgitating Oblivion‘s previous release, a juxtaposition of lounging celestial drift, frothing dissonant jaggedness, vocal chorale, and increasingly longform pieces that became experiences, something like an abstract concerto rather than the usual lump of dissociative movements. That is part of what this record is in some sense, at least in terms of its vague structuring, but our extensive research of the band’s discography helps to guide us toward this new modus from Engelke which began in 2017 where they’d began calling back to the ambitions of the Of Trees and Orchids era back in the late 90’s and realizing the collective diabolic orchestra in mind they’d not been able to articulate and compose at the time. All of this should build up at least one level of anxiety for the listener in the sense that ‘Ontology of Nought‘ is most assuredly going to be a long (~74 minutes) and challenging experience by nature but also an anarchic collectivist action as these sessions included unexpected application of flute, vibraphone, spoken word, and far more extensive use of chorale from a large cast of guest artists helping to build a bigger event than the last. I don’t know that the intent was to one-up the previous work so much as use that established medium to create something truly unique, original as it is unhinged.

From the ‘Obscura‘ bloodline and eruptive brace of ‘Unholy Cult‘ to Deathspell Omega and Imperial Triumphant the extreme metal fan with any sort of serious taste for ambitious works of spiritual value already knows, and will outright appreciate, the generative language created between main composer, vocalist/guitarist Engelke and creative partner, engineer and co-guitarist Norbert Müller on ‘Ontology of Nought‘ within the span of its first three chapters. The palpable tension of a noir-jazz pulse, the inhumane thrum and drang of the rhythm guitar’s cross-eyed note choice, and the sweet psychic relief specific to “To Weave the Tapestry of Nought” all benefit from loose-shouldered framing via session bassist Chris Zoukas (Violent Definition, Sacral Rage) and another unbelievable performance from Gruber. The threat, throttle, swing and uneasy groove these folks bring to this album allow a rhythmic baseline which is entirely human in its voicing yet virtuosic in terms of the long-form and chaotic pieces generated. That is to say that yes, each of these five songs are over ten minutes long and necessarily so as the limits of musicianship are tested as often as the fortitudes of the listener.

The voices aren’t in your head, in fact some tinge of ‘Vision Wallows in Symphonies of Light‘ receives a well-fleshed sequel here in terms of spoken word and various vocal arrange. To start this is a sporadic collage of statement and form which bookends opener “Uncreation’s Whirring Loom You Ply With Crippled Fingers” and builds to a point of chorally lifted prose at the peak of the terrifyingly dissonant “The Blossoms of Your Tomorrow Shall Unfold in my Heart”. I’m right there with you if you’ve been around long enough to hear this sort of implementation used in maybe gothic metal or progressive death metal but this is really just the tip of the iceberg as the rest of Side B has what’ll likely be the biggest challenge to the edgelord ear on the album: “…Lest I Should Perish with Travel, Effete and Weary, as My Knees Refuse to Bear Me Thither” where vocals from Ava Bonham and spoken word from Silke Farhat and Mehdi Lachini become the lead vocal driver here, a piece which reminds me of Thantifaxath‘s exploration of choral and swelling dissonance on ‘Void Masquerading as Matter‘ some years ago, at least beyond the beautiful jazz inspired roll into the piece. Unnervingly beautiful at the apex of its chaotic resonance (~8:20 minutes in) there is a completely unique piling of elements found on this piece which is both related, carried from Side A through Side C by way of familiar voices (speaking Farsi in this case?), and yet completely separated from where we’d began with this album. I’d only wished there was a bit more inflection to the end of the songs spoken outro as it doesn’t match the coiling dramatism of the song otherwise.

Since you’ve already likely gained access to the final song, split into Part I, Part II, and Part III for the sake of promotional presentation, I’ll only suggest you’ve experienced the compositional thesis viewed at a peaking level of mania an unthinkably brutal and horrifying piece which serves as the entirety of Side D. Keep in mind this is a destination beyond an even more surreal (but arguably less brutal) path which should still be surging through your brains and widening your red-eyed stare before the final roar of “The Barren Earth Oozes Blood, and Shakes and Moans, to Drink Her Children’s Gore” scalds away any remaining senses. Just, don’t expect the full listen to be exactly that hammered-at, this is perhaps the payoff for your patient witness of the dementia experienced along the way.

By retaining the talents of digital artist Dmitriy Egorov the album artwork for ‘Ontology of Nought‘ initially reads as a quasi-sequel to the (much older) image that’d graced ‘Vision Wallows in Symphonies of Light‘ zooming out and giving us Death on her throne beyond “girl with a jug” and this does well to provide a visual representation of the evolution, the leap, the decay found on this album beyond the last while still suggesting the same authorship in command. Though I’m sure there are incidental elements feeding into this perception as often as the most brilliant parts of the album feel emergent, even accidental in their clashing forge the 2024 Ingurgitating Oblivion experience is expertly curated and well-represented in its final form; Today I figure the fidelity obsessed, armchair types who listen to tech-death as if sport could “perfect” the production values here but I particularly like that there are bleak background layers, scarifying guitar tones up front, and a sense of space which feels attuned to brutality, chaotic madness and finesse at once. From my point of view an album built in such a way should be not only damaging but, broken itself to some degree as it interacts with its environs and presents some level of accost and for my own taste this speaks very well to past and present sensibilities of the artists involved.

Don’t give ‘Ontology of Nought‘ one a day to bloom before jabbering on about it, as so many automatons do anymore, give it a month or two if you are so inclined. There is a brilliance available only to the rare listener who’d culture an attention span long enough to experience the whole hour-and-a-quarter thing at once, a feat of basking and befuddlement which was difficult to unlock even in my own experience. Yes, in the long run Ingurgitating Oblivion‘s work here will be absolutely daunting to return to per its challenging nature but that’d been the case with the previous album and I still find great immersive value in that, so, folks who feel similarly will likely be well-served herein. Ultimately I had to bow to their craft and commit to the effect of the full listen, the reward was more than worthy as the muse gathered, and the surreal world spawned within each piece, left a profound dent in mind. A very high recommendation.

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