Skitliv
Skandinavisk Misantropi
8.2
You know when two unstable folks like Maniac (Mayhem) and Kvarforth (Shining, Ondskapt) get together, that the results are not going to be particularly happy and shiny. And on the debut full length from Skitliv (shitlife), the resultant black doom ichor is not for the mentally unstable or easily depressed and should not be played in the presence of sharp objects.
With a sickly, hacking pace and melding of raspy black metal and crawling doom that recalls the likes of Highgate or Funeralium, another element you can tangibly here puts the fetid cherry on the maggot infested cake; Autopsy. The scrawling echo-y hues (just listen to the aptly named “Slow Pain Coming” and oozing atonal stench at time is pure Mental Funeral (think “In the Grip of Winter” or “Torn From the Womb”) filtered through a black metal (namely Mayhem and Shining) amplifier.
With Maniac wailing, rasping and wheezing his way into respiratory failure and Kvarforth delivering malaised, mid paced, droning riffs for the albums 70 minute duration, Skandinavisk Misantropi is a sonic cancer slowly decaying and eating away all life with a painful, torturous assault. No mercy killing here as the likes of “”Hollow Devotion,” “A Valley Below” and “Densetstu” (which adds some sneering, more urgent black metal blasting to the mix) stagger and crawl with oppressive, soul sucking riffs and a bleak, breath taking oppressive atmosphere that can only be termed as being slowly water boarded with goat semen.
Then tracks like “Skandinavisk Misantropi,” “Towards The Shores Of Loss/Vulture Face Kain” and the nightmarish, hallucinogenic crawl of 13 minute closer “ScumDrug” have some spoken word, guest appearances (Attila Csihar, Gaahl, British poet/artist David Tibet) piano and atmospherics adding even more touches of schizophrenic, psychosis, explaining why guys like Kvarforth and Maniac cut themselves and burn churches.
Family get-togethers during the holidays at the Kvarfoths must be a blast.
