Review of Rigor Sardonicous - Apocalypsis Damnare (Re-release)

I’ve been told a time or two that I have an exceedingly high tolerance for some truly abysmal music, and to a certain degree, I don’t think I could honestly deny these allegations. I guess you could refer to me as an optimistic reviewer and metalhead, in the sense that I always make an effort to find the good in even the absolute worst. Now, I can appreciate an album that is challenging, but when said album is as utterly lifeless and devoid of personality (I’m pretty sure that’s the goal) as Apocalypsis Damnare, even I have to draw the line somewhere.

Falling under the categorical umbrella of funeral doom, New York’s Rigor Sardonicous work the same drudging angle as more widely known acts like Skepticism, Panthiest, Celestiial, and Thergothon. While a style that is clearly beyond my personal limits, occasionally the abovementioned bands have left open some sort of window of opportunity for me to at least entertain the thought of possibly listening to their records again (even if that happened to be in the way distant future), but I’m having a much harder time warming up to Apocalypsis Damnare. It boasts most of the same characteristics as many of the other records from the genre, however, the album in hand offers very little to cling to and actually enjoy. In addition to the customary snaillike drumming and the extremely slow down-tuned guitars, the vocals on Apocalypsis Damnare are without a doubt the lowest tones I’ve ever heard register on tape without scientific enhancement.

I’m not too sure of all the vital facts about Apocalypsis Damnare because information is about as scarce as the discs melodic moments and/or good qualities, but apparently the album is a rerecorded reissue of its long infamous kvlt predecessor version. You know the end of the world is near when this type of album is in such high demand that it requires a re-release. In a pack of songs that sound almost exactly like the one before it and is equally sleep inducing, Apocalypsis Damnare extends very few examples of anything that could gain replay on my stereo. One such instance, however, sees Rigor Sardonicous pick up the pace a bit on a track simply titled “Misery” that reminds me of slow-motion Morbid Angel played in reverse.

In the opposite fashion of prog and neo-classical guitarists trying to out-shred one another, the funeral doom genre too often seems like it’s a competition for underplaying the previous band, essentially generating a very bland style of metal that gets more and more ridiculous with each successive release. Thankfully there isn’t much of a broad appeal, and the chances of another album of this breed finding its way to me is slim to none. Just as the other acts that are classified as funeral doom, Rigor Sardonicous will benefit only a few who possess the intestinal fortitude to voluntarily sit through the monotonous forty-seven minutes that defines Apocalypsis Damnare. Good luck!

Release Details

Rigor Sardonicous

Apocalypsis Damnare (Re-release)

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