Come and be buried by Ingurgitating Oblivion.
Formed in 1997 under the name Of Trees and Orchids, the band released two albums before changing their name to mark the release of a new EP. Led by Florian Engelke (guitar/vocals), accompanied by Norbert Müller (guitar, Neithan) and Lille Gruber (drums, Defeated Sanity, ex-Cenotaph), the band unveiled Ontology of Nought in 2024 on Willowtip Records.
The band also credits Tom “Fountainhead” Geldschläger (ex-Cerebric Turmoil, ex-Obscura, live for Belphegor) on guitar, Silke Farhat and Mehdi Lachini on spoken words, Ava Bonam on vocals, Chris Zoukas (Violent Definition, Mentally Defiled, Sacral Rage) on bass, Céline Voccia on piano, Daniel Agi on flute and Jan Ferdinand on guitars and flute.
The musical imbroglio begins with Uncreation’s Whirring Loom You Ply with Crippled Fingers, where an eerie quietude awaits us, eventually welcoming a voice sampled in French, then the apocalypse appears thanks to saturation and Death Metal roots. The quiet passages are anything but restful, thanks to the dissonance and darkness of the sound, but the musicians return regularly to offer their heart-rending violence to fuel the surprising mix before giving way to the soaring notes of To Weave the Tapestry of Nought. As you’d expect, the floating moment is short-lived, as the suffocating sounds return very regularly, alternating tortured leads, cavernous howls, millimetric strikes, but also relatively gentle Jazz influences into which a few touches of chaos slip, waiting for the next surge. The track ends in an eerie silence, but is quickly followed by The Blossoms of Your Tomorrow Shall Unfold in My Heart, which first intrigues us with its few notes, then crushes and tramples us mercilessly with an oppressively dark atmosphere, especially as the voices multiply. A choir guides us to the silent final, then …Lest I Should Perish with Travel, Effete and Weary, as My Knees Refuse to Bear Me Thither captivates us again, letting Florian use a Tibetan singing bowl to succeed a Prog-tinged vocal duet, and although saturation reappears from time to time, this track is by far the calmest of all, but also the shortest, and gives way to The Barren Earth Oozes Blood, and Shakes and Moans, to Drink Her Children’s Gore, which is probably the most contrasting and tortured of the five. We have every mood, from the most suffocating to the strangest one, but the band seem to have set no limits on their anarchy, and they enjoy linking lightness, unbridled violence and cosmic sounds with unstructured harmonics right up to the final moments of this imposing creation.
Ingurgitating Oblivion is an impressive project. Although I didn’t know the name, the band immediately struck me with their creative power and ardor, which can be felt in every jolt of Ontology of Nought. The work is stunning, but it’s not for everyone.
90/100
